


Nightmares

by Idris02



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-14
Updated: 2014-11-27
Packaged: 2018-01-12 08:35:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 68,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1184159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Idris02/pseuds/Idris02
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in the Burrow about a week after the war ended. At day all is well, but in the darkness the nightmares return, plaguing their nights as they all try to get over what they experienced, while falling apart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Night Terrors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been reshuffling the chapters, but I have finally sorted them all out.

It was happening again. Night after night, she was there. She couldn’t stop it. She travelled there in her dreams. But it never felt like a dream. Each time she felt the pain running through her veins, the scream fresh on her lips. It was more than a memory. It felt like reality.

“Hermione!” Ginny had her arms on her shoulders now, shaking her, trying to wake her up. Trying to pull Hermione out of her dream, her reality, her nightmare. “Hermione!” Ginny said again, desperate not to wake the whole house up.

Hermione’s brown eyes flashed open. “Ginny?” she mumbled. She was drenched in sweat, terrified. Now she was awake she knew she had been dreaming, but her arm still ached like a fresh wound. After all these years, she finally knew how Harry had felt.

“Did you have it again?” Ginny’s face was white with concern, her eyes widening as Hermione slowly nodded. “Hermione.” She said softly, pulling her up into a hug. Hermione’s limp arms stayed beside her, she was too exhausted to do anything.  Letting go Ginny watched Hermione for a second, thinking, she bit down on her lip and looked around the room.

Hermione lay back down on the bed, needing to sleep but fearing where it would take her, the Malfoy Manor. Cringing at the thought of returning there, she closed her eyes and placed her head back on the pillow.

“No. Come with me.” Ginny wrapped her arm around Hermione’s and pulled her up.

“Where are we going?” Hermione asked as Ginny opened the bedroom door in front of them and headed out into the corridor. Ginny remained silent as she slowly guided Hermione across the wooden floor and up the staircase, people were snoring behind closed doors, but the rest of the house was quiet.

“Oh.” Hermione breathed. She had taken this route hundreds of times, she knew exactly where they were going.

Ginny still said nothing. Silently walking side by side with Hermione, her arm steading her, the nightmare always stole so much energy. They continued walking for a few more seconds, until Ginny stopped outside his bedroom door. Wrapping her fingers around the handle, she twisted it and pushed open the door. Even in the darkness Hermione could still make out the orange posters covering the walls and as she scanned the room she noticed that only one bed in there was occupied, the other left empty, still made.

Letting go of Ginny, Hermione staggered forward a few steps, looking back behind her as Ginny smiled and shut the door. Folding her arms across her chest, she breathed slowly, considering what she should say.

“Ron?” She whispered taking another step towards the bed. The figure stirred, but did not wake. He shuffled slightly in the bed but his snoring continued.

“Ron?” She repeated, a little louder this time.

“I’ll be down in a minute.” He murmured into his pillow, turning away from the door.

Taking another step closer, she repeated herself once more, “Ron!”

This time his eyes opened, at first just a slit but then fully. Sitting up quickly he managed to hit his head against the wall behind him. “Shit” he muttered rubbing his head. He looked across at her, then down at himself for a minute, quickly pulling the blankets up to his neck.

She laughed, which seemed impossible just minutes ago. A tired smile flickered across her face for a second, before disappearing again.

“What’s wrong?” Ron asked as brought his hand down from his head, his face almost as white as hers now, he had seen that look before, and didn’t like what usually followed it.

“I, uh, I had it again.” Hermione looked down at the floor as she spoke, feeling foolish. She hated that she couldn’t control it, it came every night, slipping into her dreams, spreading fear all of her body, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“Uh, Ginny brought me here.” She added, not knowing what else to say. He frowned slightly, as he thought, trying to figure out what Ginny had intended for him to do.

Dropping the blankets to reveal his bare chest again, he pulled the corner of the blankets away, and whispered, “Get in.” 

Hermione nodded and took a slow step forward. She lay down beside him underneath the blankets, pulling them up to cover her as she faced the dark bedroom, her back to him. Ron wrapped his arm around her, pulling her towards him and Hermione shuffled backwards. When she comfortable she shivered again but not because of the cold.

“Whats wrong?” Ron whispered in her ear.

“I don’t want to go back.” Hermione’s heart was beating fast, her breath was rapid, she didn’t want to go there, or to wake up drenched in sweat with her sheets twisted around her after she thrashed around in her sleep.

“You won’t” He pulled her tightly into him, kissing her on the cheek.

“I will. Every single night I go there.” Hermione was still shaking, Ron lessened her fear but didn’t eradicate it.

“But it’s different now.” Ron whispered. He knew what Ginny had intended. Ginny had told him each morning what happened the night before, about how scared Hermione was when she woke, about the muttering in her sleep. Hermione told Harry and Ron parts of it, but only in passing, never emphasizing on the fear he knew she felt.

“How?” Hermione was doubtful that anything would change. Why had Ginny brought her up here, did she no longer want to wake two or three times a night to rescue Hermione from Bellatrix. Or was there another reason, had she figured something out that had never occurred to Hermione?

“You have me.” Ron said in a matter of fact tone. Hermione brought her hand up and wrapped it around his, holding on for dear life. He squeezed her and she felt a rush through her body, she knew she was safe. Even if she did have the nightmare again he would be here when she woke up.

“If I do though you need to..” She started, still slightly concerned.

“I know.” He cut her off.

“Ok.” She murmured as she was already drifting off to sleep. She felt safe. Safer than she had felt in the past week, the nightmares only came after You Know Who was dead, she figured that they were too busy before, always rushing, planning, panicking, with little sleep so the nightmares stayed at bay. But as soon as she was safe, happy; they came back, plaguing her dreams. But in Ron’s arms she didn’t feel scared, she didn’t feel the usual dread that washed over her as she lay still in bed, her eyes shut, her head resting on the pillow. His familiar scent wrapped around her, almost ensuring her safety, and she knew that she wouldn’t return to Malfoy Manor that night.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Ron breathed as he too drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Completely unbeta-ed so all mistakes are mine and mine alone.  
> This was one of the first fics that I wrote, so it does start slowly, but it does get better as it continues.  
> I had intended to get this account up to date with my fanfic.net one months ago, but it took some time, and now it is officially up to date.


	2. Wake Up

Hermione’s eyelids fluttered open. The sun was streaming through the window making her perfectly warm. She wasn’t drenched in sweat, the sheets weren’t wrapped around her, she wasn’t shaken awake, ripped from her nightmare. She woke up by herself, of her own accord. Ron and Ginny were right. Smiling she rolled over to face Ron. His eyes were closed, but he was silent, no snores cascading from his mouth, he was awake.

“Ron.” She whispered a smile still plastered across her face.

His eyes met hers, he matched her smile and replied, “Sweet dreams?”

“Something like that.” She said happily, it was the first time that she had slept, properly slept in days. 

“Should have done this a week ago.”  Ron said, leaning forward and kissing her lightly on the lips.

“Maybe then you would have had a shirt on.” Hermione chuckled, placing her palm up against his chest.  Ron opened his mouth, a sentence already on his tongue when the door burst open.

“She’s awake!” Ginny said, breathlessly. Bending over she placed her hand on her hip, panting. She hadn’t passed her test yet so she still had to run up to Ron’s room.

“Shit.” Ron muttered. Hermione jumped out of bed and turned to face Ginny.

“Are you sure?”

“No, I thought I would go for a leisurely sprint up to Ron’s room to see how you two were getting along. Yes she’s awake! I heard her stirring, she will be in our room any minute now, we have to go!” Ginny turned, shut the door behind her and ran as quietly as she could manage, back to her room.

“I have to go.” Hermione had turned back to Ron his sheets were already pulled up to his neck in preparation.  Ron smiled back.

“See you in a few minutes then.”

Hermione leant forward, kissed him quickly, pulled back and smiled. “So glad I don’t have to run.” She said as she closed her eyes deep in thought.

Crack!

Ron watched her disappear, then shut his eyes and feigned sleep.

Crack!

Ron opened his eyes again. “Harry!”

“Morning.” Harry replied with a sad look, he was happy but not entirely.

“Tell me everything later, Mum’s on her way up, Hermione just left.” Ron said, his eyes flicking towards the door.

A real smile appeared on Harry’s face, “Hermione just left?” He repeated, whilst kicking of his shoes and pulling off his jacket, dumping out the floor.

“Shut up, I’ll tell you…” Ron stopped as he heard footsteps coming up the stairs.  Harry pulled back to covers and jumped it to bed. The bed still didn’t look like it had been slept in. Ron raised his wand from his bedside table and flicked it slightly, causing the blankets to move as though they had been kicked by Harry in his sleep. He had finally mastered non-verbal spells.

Harry nodded at him and they both shut their eyes, feigning sleep, just as the door opened.

“Breakfast time!” Molly’s voice rang out around the room, loud enough to wake them if they were indeed sleeping. Harry and Ron both groaned and muttered, “Thanks.” And “Be down soon.” Leaving the door open behind her Molly rushed off down the staircase, to wake the others. When her footsteps could no longer be heard, the boys pushed the covers off and sat up facing each other.

“Did you get any sleep?” Ron asked first.

“Yeah, Andromeda woke me up a few minutes ago.” He said with a sigh. He had been spending a lot of time with Teddy, they all had, but last night he felt the need to visit.

“Hermione and I thought we would visit after lunch.” Ron said, Teddy was part of the family now, they saw him almost every day, giving his Grandmother some time off while Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Harry looked after him.

“Speaking of which, Hermione just left. Care to explain.” Harry asked, with a smirk.

“It’s the nightmares.”

“She’s still having them?” The smirk disappeared, his face full of concern now.

“Not anymore.” Ron smiled. “It was Ginny’s idea really, she sent her here after she woke up again, scared as usual. It worked though, she didn’t thrash around, or mutter, or have that petrified look on her face when she woke up.”

“You must have the magic touch.” Harry laughed as he stood up and grabbed his wand. “Accio shirt.” He said and one sailed out of the closet towards him. “Cover yourself up.” Harry chucked the shirt at Ron, who pulled it over his head as he stood up.

“One last thing before we go downstairs, why does your Mum keep coming up to us, rather than yelling from the bottom of the stairs like normal.” Harry asked as he changed into his pyjama pants.

“I thought you knew.” Ron said smiling, “Cause Hermione and I date, and you and Ginny date, so she checks to ensure that we are in our own beds. Us here in our room and them down in theirs.

“Doesn’t work though does it.” Harry said checking his reflection in the mirror.

“Not in the slightest.” Ron replied. “You look great.” He added with a laugh.

Crack!

Harry turned away from the mirror, Ron had disappeared, the perfect quip frozen on his lips. Looking at the mirror once more, he flashed himself a smile.

Crack!


	3. Helpful

“Morning boys.” Molly said, rushing past them as she made her way up the stairs. They had only been back a few days, travelling back and forth collecting their stuff from Aunt Muriel’s, the kitchen and living room were overflowing with boxes, Molly was desperate to put everything back in its place. To make home, home again. It not only gave her a purpose but it kept her distracted.

“We should help after we’ve eaten.” Ron said, watching his mother disappear around the bend.

“Yeah.” Harry replied, and sniffed the air. “Smells good, I wonder who’s cooking since your mums not.” Ron shrugged and they headed towards the chattering in the kitchen.

“Morning Master.” Kreacher said as they walked into the kitchen. Harry and Ron looked at each other for a second, in shock, they hadn’t expected to see Kreacher until tomorrow.

“Good morning Kreacher.” Harry said with a smile, sitting down at the table next to Ginny. “Morning.” He said to her as he leant over and kissed her lightly on the lips.

“If I had known there would this amount of affection during breakfast, I would have stayed in bed.” George’s voice rang out as he leant against the doorway.

Harry and Ginny separated, blushing slightly as they looked at George, he smirked and nodded towards Ron and Hermione. In the corner Hermione had her arms wrapped around Ron’s neck, his arms wrapped around her waist, pulled together, in a long kiss. Both completely oblivious that they were being watched by everyone in the room except for Kreacher, who was busily putting everything on plates.

“Neville and Luna will be on their way in a few minutes.” Molly’s voice carried down the stairs, her footsteps getting louder as she approached.

Molly’s voice worked like an electric shock, Hermione and Ron separated in an instant and turned to face Ginny, Harry and George. Seeing that the eyes were on them, they both blushed as they stepped towards the table. Ron pulled out the chair beside him and Hermione smiled even brighter as she sat down. Ron pushed the chair in slightly and sat down next to her.

Ginny and Harry shared a knowing look. “So that’s what I interrupted this morning.” Ginny said, trying not to laugh.

George raised his eyebrow, but said nothing as he sat down next to Ron and Molly walked into the kitchen just as Kreacher started placing plates of food in front of them all. Silence fell in the kitchen as Molly sat down beside Ginny. George was smirking and the rest of them were looking down at their plates.

“So Neville and Luna will be here soon.” Ron said slowly, breaking the silence and looking up at his mother.

“Yes. They just sent a letter.” Molly said scanning their faces, with a look of curiosity. Kreacher stood beside her, his hands empty, the table full of food.

“Smells delicious, thank you Kreacher.” Ron said with a smile. The others joined in nodding and smiling.

“Yes.” Kreacher said, looking happy and turning out of the room. He was in the same helpful mood that he was before Hermione, Ron and Harry went to the Ministry, more than ready to help, even the ‘blood-traitors’ as he once called them.

As he left the room, they turned their attention to the food and began filling their plates, the plates in the middle of the table were quickly emptying. The only person who sat still, not touching her food was Hermione whose attention was solely on Ron, her eyes wide.

“What, I’m hungry!” Ron said defensively, looking down at the mound of food on top of his plate. Hermione smiled, Ron didn’t know why she was staring at him like that, but it was a look of mild surprise, but almost in awe that after everything had changed so drastically there were still some similarities. Tearing her eyes away from him, she started filling her plate and they all ate in silence.

“Did Dad make it home last night?” George asked.

“For a few hours, but he had to leave early again. He wants you to visit him after breakfast. Percy, Bill and Charlie are all there already.” Molly replied, glancing up at the clock, an old habit of hers. Looking at the rest of them she said, “We’re having a big dinner tonight, so I need you to help around the house.” They all nodded.

“We were thinking of going to see Teddy after lunch, for an hour or so. But the rest of the day your wish is our command.” Ron said sincerely. Harry and Hermione all looked at over at him again, they still weren’t used to his new side yet.

“What do you want us to do?” Ginny asked, eagerly. There was a different atmosphere in the Weasley house these days. There was much less bickering, everyone had changed, the solemn silence still crept in at times, but everyone had spent their days crammed full, too scared to stop.

“Well Ginny and Hermione can..” she faltered for a moment, she would normally separate them but decided against it, “You four can start by de-gnoming the backyard. It got out of hand while we were away.” She stood up and pushed her chair in, running her hand through her hair, and glancing at the clock again as she headed out into the living room.

“Well I best be off, enjoy de-gnoming.” George said as he rose from his seat and looked at them all, he glanced over at the clock and a look of sadness washed over his face.

Crack!

“We should go outside, Luna and Neville should be here soon.” Hermione said standing up. The rest of them rose with her, Ron wrapping his around her shoulder, and kissed her head as they headed towards the door. Harry did the same to Ginny and followed Ron outside.

Crack! Crack!

Just as the door shut behind them, Luna and Neville appeared in front of them smiling.

“Hello Harry! Morning Ginny!” Luna said, stepping forward and pulling them both into a hug.

“Hermione, Ron!” Neville said, hugging them both as well.

“Care to join us de-gnoming?” Ginny asked as they finished hugging Luna and then Neville.

“Sure, we have a lot to tell you.” Neville said as he followed them into the yard.

“As do they.” Luna said in her sing song voice, looking around as she walked, “Lovely garden.”  She smiled at Ginny and Ron.

 

**...**

A few hours later, after they had eaten a quick but delicious lunch, Luna, Neville, Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Harry waved goodbye to Molly, they then all disapparated to visit Teddy and Andromeda. Together they walked into the house, still in conversation, sat down in the lounge and waited for Andromeda.

They spent the next half an hour, passing Teddy around, pulling faces at him, cradling him in their arms and discussing his cuteness, how big he had gotten and in low whispers so Andromeda couldn’t hear, how much he reminded them of Tonks.

“I hope he likes my present.” Luna said as she sat on the edge of the wooden table staring at Teddy, with a smile etched into her face, matching everyone’s in the room.

“I’m sure he will.” Andromeda replied. As Luna turned to look out the window Andromeda looked quizzically at Luna’s present, glanced over at Hermione who shrugged in reply, nobody knew what it was. “I will be gone for about an hour, if you need anything…”

“We will be fine.” Ginny replied, not tearing her eyes away from Teddy. Andromeda nodded to herself and looked around the room once again, checking that she didn’t forget anything. Smiling to them all she walked out the door and off into the garden.

 “How is she handling all of this?” Hermione asked Harry. They all looked over at him, concern clearly displayed on their faces.

“Not sure. There is almost always someone here, the Order makes sure of that. Molly visits at night, she had just left when I came here last night. She has a lot of people concerned about her and Teddy and I think what scares her most is when she has to tell him what happened.” Harry said, his eyes darting around the room as he spoke.

Silence filled the room. The only sound was of Teddy gurgling happily to himself. The clock chimed loudly as it hit 12, the day had flown by.

“I must go.” Luna said, leaning forward and kissing Teddy on the forehead before standing up and heading out into the garden.

“Gran will want me home now as well. Good to see you guys, see you at dinner.” Neville stood up, smiled at them all and waved goodbye, following Luna out, shutting the door behind him.

 “We should probably do a quick clean-up for her, she must be exhausted.” Ron said looking over at Harry. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Hermione’s smile broaden.

“Good idea.” Harry stood up and headed over to the kitchen, he had seen the mess on the bench when they walked in.

Looking down at Teddy, Ron smiled and stood up, Teddy still in his arms. “I can’t believe we were ever this small.” He said his eyes still on the baby. “Or this cute.”

“You weren’t.” Ginny replied, holding her arms out, ready to take Teddy.

“Hmm maybe not. But you were.” Ron replied, “With your big brown eyes.” He leant down and placed Teddy in Ginny’s outstretched arms. Tearing his eyes away from him, he followed Harry into the kitchen.

“He’s different now.” Hermione said, her eyes on the door that shut behind Ron.

“We all are.” Ginny said, sticking her tongue out at Teddy.

“Yeah.” Hermione said, everything was different now, some for the better, some for the worse.

“Luna told me that people don’t change, that just reveal what was deep inside. Whether good or bad.” Ginny sat Teddy down her knees, facing her, and starting bouncing him up and down, he squealed with delight.

“That sounds like one of the most accurate things she has ever said.” Hermione replied, watching Teddy smiling and laughing. Looking more concerned now she looked over at Ginny, “How are you doing?”

“Better. Mum keeps busy, she can’t stop. She is always doing something, the only time she stops is for a few hours at night, and…” Ginny faltered, she stopped bouncy Teddy. “We all miss him. No one more than George. Everyone else is at work, there is a lot to be done, but I think they enjoy that, they enjoy not stopping. It’s good to have Percy back, especially since he has lost most of his more annoying personality points. How is Ron?”

Hermione looked over at the door, they could hear Ron and Harry chatting merrily to each other, pots and pans and plates clanged together, the sound of water running, their wands left forgotten on the table in front of Ginny and Hermione.

Lowering her voice she said, “I’m not sure. Most of the time he’s fine, different but fine. But sometimes he just stops, he doesn’t think I notice though. He just stands there, looking into the distance. He opens his mouth to say something sometimes and just shuts it, realising that he’s no longer here.”

“At least he has you.” Ginny said after a long silence.

“Who would have guessed it; Ron and I, Harry and you.” Hermione said, stretching her arms out towards to Teddy.

“I always knew Ron and you.” Ginny replied as she handed Teddy to Hermione.

“Since when?”  Hermione sat Teddy on her lap, and covered her eyes, “Where’s Teddy?” she said in a baby voice. Ginny chuckled as Hermione said, “There he is!”

“Ever since he came home after his first year at Hogwarts. Why do you think Mum got some mad in fourth year when Rita Skeeter wrote about you and Harry’s relationship? Everyone knew that he liked you, everyone except from him and apparently you.” Ginny said, raising her wand, sending Teddy’s toys to fly back into his toy box and onto the shelf.

Hermione sat still, stunned. Ginny flicked her wand again at the washing folded itself and flew into the open cupboard, slotting in place. Hermione bounced Teddy on her knees as she sat there thinking. After a few minutes, Ginny had cleaned the room and was leaning against the couch watching Hermione.

“Ok.” Hermione said at last, her eyes sill fixated on Teddy. She handed Teddy over to Ginny and stood up slowly. A smile flickered across her face once again, “I knew it.” She muttered to herself. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She turned to Ginny.

“It was obvious you liked him!” Ginny laughed as she spoke, how could someone so smart, be so oblivious.

“Not to me!” Hermione said, still looking shocked.

“Well you both worked it out in the end.” Ginny said, smiling up at Hermione. Ginny opened her mouth to say something when the kitchen door swung open and Ron and Harry walked out chatting to each other.

“McGonagall’s in charge now, she wants us to visit her the day after tomorrow.” Harry whispered a flicker of nervousness crossed his face.

“Well neither of us are going back. I don’t imagine she will love that.” Ron whispered back, making sure that neither Hermione or Ginny could hear them. Bringing their attention to them he said in a loud voice, “Looks good in there, any suggestions what we do now?”

“The garden looks like it needs work.” Ginny suggested, smiling at them as they entered the room.

“Good idea, give us a shout when she gets back.” Harry said, walking past Ginny and grabbed their wands off the table.

“I’ll help!” Hermione said, as Harry handed Ron his wand.

“Ok.” Harry said, exchanging a look with Ron, they hadn’t finished talking. He followed Ron towards the door.

Hermione gave Ginny a desperate look. “Harry, why don’t you help me with Teddy.” Ginny said, as Harry was about to walk out the door behind Ron.

“I don’t really think… oh, sure.” Harry was confused at first, but as Ginny gave him the look he nodded and smiled.

Hermione smiled back and rushed out the door behind Ron.

Crack!


	4. Teddy

A few hours later, after they had eaten a quick but delicious lunch, Luna, Neville, Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Harry waved goodbye to Molly, they then all disapparated to visit Teddy and Andromeda. Together they walked into the house, still in conversation, sat down in the lounge and waiting for Andromeda.

They spent the next half an hour, passing Teddy around, pulling faces at him, cradling him in their arms and discussing his cuteness, how big he had gotten and in low whispers so Andromeda couldn’t hear, how much he reminded them of Tonks.

“I hope he likes my present.” Luna said as she sat on the edge of the wooden table staring at Teddy, with a smile etched into her face, matching everyone’s in the room.

“I’m sure he will.” Andromeda replied. As Luna turned to look out the window Andromeda looked quizzically at Luna’s present, glanced over at Hermione who shrugged in reply, nobody knew what it was. “I will be gone for about an hour, if you need anything…”

“We will be fine.” Ginny replied, not tearing her eyes away from Teddy. Andromeda nodded to herself and looked around the room once again, checking that she didn’t forget anything. Smiling to them all she walked out the door and off into the garden.

 “How is she handling all of this?” Hermione asked Harry. They all looked over at him, concern clearly displayed on their faces.

“Not sure. There is almost always someone here, the Order makes sure of that. Molly visits at night, she had just left when I came here last night. She has a lot of people concerned about her and Teddy and I think what scares her most is when she has to tell him what happened.” Harry said, his eyes darting around the room as he spoke.

Silence filled the room. The only sound was of Teddy gurgling happily to himself. The clock chimed loudly as it hit 12, the day had flown by.

“I must go.” Luna said, leaning forward and kissing Teddy on the forehead before standing up and heading out into the garden.

“Gran will want me home now as well. Good to see you guys, see you at dinner.” Neville stood up, smiled at them all and waved goodbye, following Luna out, shutting the door behind him.

 “We should probably do a quick clean-up for her, she must be exhausted.” Ron said looking over at Harry. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see Hermione’s smile broaden.

“Good idea.” Harry stood up and headed over to the kitchen, he had seen the mess on the bench when they walked in.

Looking down at Teddy, Ron smiled and stood up, Teddy still in his arms. “I can’t believe we were ever this small.” He said his eyes still on the baby. “Or this cute.”

“You weren’t.” Ginny replied, holding her arms out, ready to take Teddy.

“Hmm maybe not. But you were.” Ron replied, “With your big brown eyes.” He leant down and placed Teddy in Ginny’s outstretched arms. Tearing his eyes away from him, he followed Harry into the kitchen.

“He’s different now.” Hermione said, her eyes on the door that shut behind Ron.

“We all are.” Ginny said, sticking her tongue out at Teddy.

“Yeah.” Hermione said, everything was different now, some for the better, some for the worse.

“Luna told me that people don’t change, that just reveal what was deep inside. Whether good or bad.” Ginny sat Teddy down her knees, facing her, and starting bouncing him up and down, he squealed with delight.

“That sounds like one of the most accurate things she has ever said.” Hermione replied, watching Teddy smiling and laughing. Looking more concerned now she looked over at Ginny, “How are you doing?”

“Better. Mum keeps busy, she can’t stop. She is always doing something, the only time she stops is for a few hours at night, and…” Ginny faltered, she stopped bouncy Teddy. “We all miss him. No one more than George. Everyone else is at work, there is a lot to be done, but I think they enjoy that, they enjoy not stopping. It’s good to have Percy back, especially since he has lost most of his more annoying personality points. How is Ron?”

Hermione looked over at the door, they could hear Ron and Harry chatting merrily to each other, pots and pans and plates clanged together, the sound of water running, their wands left forgotten on the table in front of Ginny and Hermione.

Lowering her voice she said, “I’m not sure. Most of the time he’s fine, different but fine. But sometimes he just stops, he doesn’t think I notice though. He just stands there, looking into the distance. He opens his mouth to say something sometimes and just shuts it, realising that he’s no longer here.”

“At least he has you.” Ginny said after a long silence.

“Who would have guessed it; Ron and I, Harry and you.” Hermione said, stretching her arms out towards to Teddy.

“I always knew Ron and you.” Ginny replied as she handed Teddy to Hermione.

“Since when?”  Hermione sat Teddy on her lap, and covered her eyes, “Where’s Teddy?” she said in a baby voice. Ginny chuckled as Hermione said, “There he is!”

“Ever since he came home after his first year at Hogwarts. Why do you think Mum got some mad in fourth year when Rita Skeeter wrote about you and Harry’s relationship? Everyone knew that he liked you, everyone except from him and apparently you.” Ginny said, raising her wand, sending Teddy’s toys to fly back into his toy box and onto the shelf.

Hermione sat still, stunned. Ginny flicked her wand again at the washing folded itself and flew into the open cupboard, slotting in place. Hermione bounced Teddy on her knees as she sat there thinking. After a few minutes, Ginny had cleaned the room and was leaning against the couch watching Hermione.

“Ok.” Hermione said at last, her eyes sill fixated on Teddy. She handed Teddy over to Ginny and stood up slowly. A smile flickered across her face once again, “I knew it.” She muttered to herself. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She turned to Ginny.

“It was obvious you liked him!” Ginny laughed as she spoke, how could someone so smart, be so oblivious.

“Not to me!” Hermione said, still looking shocked.

“Well you both worked it out in the end.” Ginny said, smiling up at Hermione. Ginny opened her mouth to say something when the kitchen door swung open and Ron and Harry walked out chatting to each other.

“McGonagall’s in charge now, she wants us to visit her the day after tomorrow.” Harry whispered a flicker of nervousness crossed his face.

“Well neither of us are going back. I don’t imagine she will love that.” Ron whispered back, making sure that neither Hermione or Ginny could hear them. Bringing their attention to them he said in a loud voice, “Looks good in there, any suggestions what we do now?”

“The garden looks like it needs work.” Ginny suggested, smiling at them as they entered the room.

“Good idea, give us a shout when she gets back.” Harry said, walking past Ginny and grabbed their wands off the table.

“I’ll help!” Hermione said, as Harry handed Ron his wand.

“Ok.” Harry said, exchanging a look with Ron, they hadn’t finished talking. He followed Ron towards the door.

Hermione gave Ginny a desperate look. “Harry, why don’t you help me with Teddy.” Ginny said, as Harry was about to walk out the door behind Ron.

“I don’t really think… oh, sure.” Harry was confused at first, but as Ginny gave him the look he nodded and smiled.

Hermione smiled back and rushed out the door behind Ron.

Crack!


	5. Quidditch

Checking behind her before she walked out the door she saw Fleur appear in the living room, with a huge smile on her face, looking beautiful as usual. Closing the door behind herself, she headed towards the trees to find Ron.

“Where’s Harry?” Ron said turning to face her.

“Helping Ginny. Fleur just arrived.” Hermione replied, as Ron waved his wand and the weeds were uprooted and flung into a hole five metres to their left.

“How does she look?” Ron said, flicking his wand again and trimming the grass.

“What?” Hermione felt her face redden and her smile vanished from her face. Ron stopped what he was doing and turned to face her, lowering his wand and stuffing it in his pocket. He immediately knew that she had not understood what he said at all.

“That’s not what I meant. And you know it.” Ron said, taking a step towards Hermione, “I meant is she still crying? When she came a few days ago, you and Ginny were out in the garden. She looked terrible.”

“Oh. No, she looked happy.” Hermione said, as she wrapped her arms around his neck once more.

“Good. Bill worries when he’s at work. Andromeda said she spends a lot of time here, with her sister, both cooing over Teddy. I think it helps.” Ron said, giving a far off distant look, a look that never failed to make Hermione worry.

“I love you.” She whispered, watching Ron. Smiling, his eyes focused on Hermione, the far off look vanished as suddenly as it came.

“I love you too.” He said, wrapping his arms around her waist. He hesitated for only a second before closing his eyes and kissing her. After all these years, they felt like they had something to catch up on. He pulled her towards him as she ran her tongue across his lips, pushing them apart.

Crack!

“Do you just wait for me?” A voice rang out behind them.

Grudgingly they tore their lips apart. Ron looked over Hermione’s shoulder and smiled.

“Basically, yeah.” Ron said to George, before turning his attention back to Hermione, resuming their passionate kiss.

“I don’t want to ruin this saliva exchange but Dad’s on his way. It’s up to you though.” George said, flicking his wand and filling the hole with dirt. As he did, Ron and Hermione separated and walked towards him holding hands.

Crack!

Arthur appeared in front of them, in a brand new pair of robes, with a large smile on his face. “Oh hello. Molly said you would be here.”

Crack!

Bill appeared beside the door, turned to face them, smiled and asked, “Fleur?”

“Inside with Teddy.” Ron answered. “Anyone else joining us?”

Crack!

Andromeda appeared by the willow in the corner of the garden, she was busily stuffing something into her purse. Which looked rather like a soft toy blue elephant. “Oh hello.” She looked up with a smile.

“Just popping by to collect the children and check you were still coming to dinner.” Arthur said cheerfully as Bill, George, Hermione and Ron headed into the living room.

“Harry, Ginny we’re leaving now apparently.” Hermione said, watching Fleur cradle Teddy in her arms, singing him to sleep.

Ginny turned to the door and jumped off Harry’s lap as she noticed Bill and Charlie walking in.

“What is with you all today?” George laughed as Ginny jumped up, blushing profusely.

Harry looked down at the ground, his cheeks as red as Ginny’s hair, but a smile clear on his face. He finally had what he wanted, he had spent months obsessing over Ginny, he had wanted to make sure she was safe, to have her know that he was thinking about her but there was no way to do that while they were away.  He knew that she would go back to school in September, but that was months away now, a speck on the distant horizon.

“See you soon.” Ginny waved to Andromeda as Harry slung his arm over her shoulder and they exited into the yard.

“Bye Teddy.” Ron whispered, kissing him on the forehead and linking his fingers with Hermione. Hermione smiled at Fleur as she looked up and walked beside Ron, following Ginny and Harry into the yard.

“What’s happening tonight?” Ginny asked as Ron and Hermione came within earshot.

“Just dinner I think, nothing special.” Ron answered. Darting his eyes to the window he saw Arthur chatting to Andromeda and Bill cradling Teddy. Turning back to Hermione, he wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her.

Her hands rested on either side of his face, her mouth opening slightly, letting her tongue to slide out. As their kiss deepened, her hands left his face and wrapped around his neck, letting Ron lift her up in their enthusiasm.

“Oi!” Ginny exclaimed as she saw her Dad hug Andromeda through the window, knowing that he would be turning and leaving in a manner of seconds.

Letting go of each other they stood apart, their fingers intertwined as they smiled up at each other. They had been waiting for this for years. Granted the situation in which it finally presented itself wasn’t ideal, but they had not had the easiest experience at Hogwarts. In their first year, Hermione, Ron and Harry had battled a troll, a giant chess-seat, a three headed dog. Harry had stopped You-Know-Who from getting the stone and in Ginny’s first year she had been possessed by a horcrux. They were used to complicated by now. This peace was a change for them all.

Harry quickly kissed Ginny before Arthur turned and the four of them stood in pairs, waiting in a happy silence while Bill and Fleur placed a sleeping Teddy into his crib and exited with Arthur waving quiet goodbyes.

“We ready then?” George said, giving them a brief smile causing all four of them to blush profusely, he knew exactly what they had been doing. He was glad that they were happy, they were all his siblings, they had been for years, and in soon enough they would all be legally related and that didn’t surprise him the slightest. He had seen it coming for years, as had everyone but them.

“Off we go.” Arthur said, glancing from face to face.

Hermione and Ron tightened their grip, as did Harry and Ginny. Bill and Fleur grasped each other’s hands, smiled at the others and waved goodbye with their free hands. They all shut their eyes in concentration, focussing on their destination.

Crack!

“Hello dears.” Molly yelled out of the kitchen window as they all appeared on the grass a few metres away from her.

The garden looked a lot better than it had done when they left. They had finished de-gnoming the garden before departing. But someone had clipped most of the hedges, uprooted all the weeds, mowed the lawns and watered the plants, the flowers were already flourishing. What would usually have taken all of them to do in a few days, could take a matter of minutes at a few flicks on the wand, thinking incantations.

“Did you have fun?” Molly asked as they entered the kitchen. Kissing Arthur, she turned to the rest of them, hugging them quickly before they slouched down in the kitchen chairs.

Together they murmured yeahs and sures, as they scanned the kitchen, marvelling at how clean it was. Evidently, Kreacher’s attitude in the Burrow was much the same as his attitude in Grimmauld Place shortly before they all left. The floor was scrubbed within an inch of its life, the benches sparkled and not a hint of dust was seen on any surface. All of the clothes from the last few days, or any clothes left in the house had been cleaned, dried, folded, and was now placed on the kitchen table in large stacks.

“You did promise to help.” Molly said, causing them all to groan inwardly and rise from their seats. “But..” she continued, making them exchange eager looks. “Kreacher has done almost everything. So, I guess, you can do what you want.”

Ron glanced at Hermione a small smile forming on his lips. Anything they wanted? This day was just getting better and better.

“You could play Quidditch!” Molly exclaimed hurriedly catching the looks Harry and Ron gave Ginny and Hermione, knowing full well what they intended.

“Yes!” Harry, Ron and Ginny all exclaimed, smiling widely at each other. None of them had played it in months. Snape had banned Quidditch at school, and the energy at home was too sullen for Ginny to play it during the holidays. Harry and Ron hadn’t been in the ideal situation to play a game while they were hunting horcruxes.

“Have fun, wake me when the others arrive.” George muttered rising from the table and heading towards the stairs.

“It’s the afternoon!” Ginny exclaimed, watching her brother closely as he turned to face her for a second.

“Inside I’m an old woman, I need my nana nap.” George said, smiled at them all before heading up the stairs. They sat in silence, the three of them grinning at each other, they were going to play Quidditch.

Only Hermione looked less than pleased. It wasn’t that she disliked the game, she loved watching it and cheering them on, but she was terrible at it, she knew that. And she knew that whoever was stuck with her was bound to lose, they didn’t say it but she knew they damned their luck when they had her on their team. It was like Muggle school all over again, she was always picked last. Having no friends and no talent helped that along, but still she resented it.

“How do we want to play this?” Ginny said as they made their way to the shed to get their cobwebbed broomsticks.

“Can you grab mine, I’ll set up!” Ron yelled walking to the stretch of grass they used as their pitch.

Hermione looked from Ginny and Harry who were no debating, girls on guys or Weasleys’ on visitors or couple on couple, then to Ron sauntering off in the opposite direction.

“Mine too!” Hermione yelled to Ginny, running off towards Ron, linking her fingers with his as she walked alongside him.

“Still don’t like spiders huh?” Hermione said, pulling Ron close to her.

“Well considering it was my boggart, nope, not a big fan.” Ron replied, kissing Hermione when he finished talking, glad that she was always around, he knew she had to go to Australia to get her parents soon, but he didn’t want her to leave, not yet.

“Yeah…” Hermione’s thoughts wandered off, to their third year at Hogwarts.

She hadn’t finished the test that Lupin had set out for them, it was the boggart that finished her off. Coming out she told them that Professor McGonagall had told her that she had failed everything, and nobody questioned her. They either didn’t care, or just assumed that was the truth. It was far from that.

Hermione sat on the grass by the side as the others set up of the field, she had no idea what went there, she had seen the game enough but didn’t take much interest in the particulars. If she went to help, she would simply hinder them.

Staring at the trees, her mind wandered off again, the sound of Ron’s voice pulling her back out of her thoughts.

“Why don’t we play a few games, shuffle the teams each time. I want to go with Hermione first though.” Ron said, bending over the box, and opening the lid.

“Really?” Hermione stood up off the ground, her voice soft and surprised, making him turn around to look at her.

“Yeah, of course.” Ron said, smiling at her as Ginny and Harry exchanging looks behind Hermione.

“Ron!” Hermione exclaimed running towards him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she snaked her legs around his waist and he held her close to him, his arms wrapped around her waist. Hermione kissed Ron passionately, sliding her tongue into his mouth and deepening their kiss, her hands grabbing fist fills of Ron’s red hair as she urged for more.

“GUYS!” Ginny yelled from behind them, forcing them to slowly, reluctantly part, Ron kissed Hermione once more before she unwrapped her legs from around him and he placed her back on the ground, his arms still wrapped around her waist and hers around his neck.

Nobody had ever picked her first before, perhaps she was picked because she dated Ron now, but that only made her feel better. She was picked first to be on a team by her boyfriend. If only her old muggle school acquaintances could see her now, or even Ron. His muscles having developed over the last few years, his broad shoulders well known by Hermione’s hands now, after running her fingers over them almost every time they kissed.

“You need to be even further apart if we’re going to play.” Harry said, laughing with Ginny as Hermione defiantly kissed Ron again, pulling him up against her once more before letting go of him completely moments later.

“Catching up on lost time?” Ginny asked, chuckling as she passed Ron his broomstick and Harry handed Hermione hers.

“We have years to catch up on. So maybe we should play first.” Ron said, mounting his broomstick.

“Alright, let’s go.” Harry said, throwing the Quaffle up into the air as they all kicked off, flying into the air.


	6. An Idea

The wind whistling through their hair, the sun shining on their faces, it was no surprise that the day rushed by faster than any of them could have imagined. None of them stopped for anything, they had kept playing for hours, forgetting how time worked, just playing on and on until the sun began to climb down from the sky and rustling noises approached them.

“Evening!” Neville yelled from below them. Luna was walking beside him, holding his hand and grinning up at them.

Hermione scored, yet again and they all sped down to the ground, landing a few steps in front of Luna and Neville, smiling widely as they did so. It was great to be up in the air again, to be relaxed and happy and carefree.

Hermione wasn’t as bad as she thought she would be. Sure Harry and Ginny were winning, but no one suggested they should trade teams, and every time that Hermione or Ron scored, or Ron blocked a goal they would fly past each other and kiss before speeding off again.

Hermione had never enjoyed a game of Quidditch so much before. Upon landing she dropped her broomstick and walked over to Ron again, kissing him and then hugging him in triumphant.

“You’re early!” Harry said to Neville ignoring Ron and Hermione as they made out behind them.

“No, it’s nearly six.” Neville replied, smiling over at Ron and Hermione, as Ginny made retching noises.

“Bloody hell!” Ron exclaimed, glancing down at his watch to verify the time before he hugged both Luna and Neville. The others quickly following suit.

“Fancy one last game?” Ginny said, looking pleadingly at Harry.

It had been so long since she had played, she felt like she could never stop. She missed it during the last year more than she would have anticipated. It was just another thing that was taken away from her that she was glad to have back. It made her feel more like herself more than she had done in weeks.

“Yes!” Hermione exclaimed.

Everyone turned to her in surprise, she had a wide grin on her face and had her arm wrapped around Ron’s, her eyes sparkling. Never before had she enjoyed sport so much. Any type of sport. But the last few hours had been perfect.

They had laughed with each other as they soared above the ground. Laughing when they missed spectacularly, cheering when they scored, applauding when someone pulled off an amazing save, it had been a great afternoon, that had somewhere along the way turned into an evening.

They had played two on two so most of the rules didn’t apply, but Hermione loved it all the same. She didn’t even miss sitting against the tree reading her book, looking up every time there was an excess of noise from above.

 

Twenty minutes later they were heading back to the Burrow, brooms over their shoulders, Ginny and Harry, and Hermione and Ron holding hands as they went. Luna was better than expected and Neville blew the others away, he had changed a lot since first year, probably the most out of all of them. It seemed as there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do anymore.

“Finally!” Molly said as they traipsed into the kitchen, smiling and laughing with each other.

“Sorry Mum.” Ginny and Ron said in unison, not looking the least bit disheartened.

“You four need to wash up before dinner.” Molly said her eyes scanning them each, seeing their hair blasted against the face and bits of dirt covering their arms and clothes.

They nodded and headed up the stairs. Luna and Neville left them and went back outside to mix and mingle with the guests they had passed on their way in. Ginny and Hermione veered off to their room to grab their clothes while Harry and Ron went up to their room.

Luckily they didn’t only have one bathroom, so the shower didn’t have a four person queue. Ron showered before Harry as Harry was hunting for a clean shirt while Ron slipped out the door and made his way to the shower. It was a few minutes before Harry had realised he had left, and he spent the time speaking to an empty room.

**...**

“Can you wake up George dinner is almost ready.” Molly said, as Ron walked past the kitchen on his way outside. He had quickly showered, then put on his jeans and a dark green dress shirt, it wasn’t the occasion for robes, and Ron hated wearing them in this heat.

“Sure thing.” Ron said, frowning slightly as he turned back to the staircase and ran up to George’s room. 

He could hear the water running from both showers, as he clambered up the stairs.

“She’s in the shower.” Ginny said as she looked down on Ron. She was leaning against her bedroom door in a pale blue dress, smiling at Ron as he ran up the stairs.

“Who… oh right. Not what I’m here for.” Ron said, stopping for a second looking confused before running past her.

“Sure.” Ginny yelled up at him, closing her bedroom door behind her and heading to the stairs.

 “Harry should be down soon.” He yelled back.

He looked back at her as she ran down the staircase shaking her head. Walking up the rest of the steps, he slowed down as he came closer to George’s room. He knocked, softly.

No reply.

His hand grasped the door handle, turned it slowly and pushed the door open.

“George?” Ron whispered, as he looked around the door.

George lay in his bed, his sheets kicked onto the floor. His bed drenched in sweat, his shirt sticking to his skin. He was slowly writhing, his lips moving quickly but no sound was coming out. His breaths were short and rapid, he sounded like he was hyperventilating. The only other sound that came from the noise was a low almost humming sound.

“George!” Ron exclaimed, shutting the door hastily behind him as he swept into the room.

George hadn’t mentioned anything about these nightmares he was having, and judging by the clearance zone around the bed, this was not a first time occurrence. Ron pulled his wand out of his back pocket, pointed it at the door, and thought _‘Muffliato’._

“George!” Ron repeated louder this time, as he moved towards him. He bent down and noticed that the almost humming sound was George’s frantic mutterings in his sleep.

Pausing for a moment wondering how best to wake him, he decided against shaking him awake. Pointing his wand at George’s face he thought for a second before water squirted out of it, pouring an entire bucket worth onto George.

George spluttered. The humming and the writhing stopped. His eyes flashed open and he leant forward and grabbed Ron by the shirt pulling him down towards him.

“George..?” Ron said, his eyes widening at the frantic look in George’s eyes.

George’s expression softened, as he registered both the voice and the face of his brother. Releasing his grip he lowered himself back into bed, then realising it was drenched sat back up and climbed off the bed.

“Harry should be out now.” Ron said as George slowly approached the door.

“Out of…” George stopped and turned to face Ron, looking confused.

“Of the shower.” Ron cut across him. He yanked upon the cupboard doors, pulled out a change of clothes and chucked them over to George.

“Ok.” George said slowly, looking down at the bundle in his hand. He wasn’t the same as he was a few hours ago downstairs. His personality seemed to have been shaved away while he slept, all the laughter and cheer sapped out of him, his smile seemed to have disappeared. He was right back where he was a few days ago.

“George..” Ron whispered, taking a step towards him, not knowing what to say or what to do.

He was his big brother, who always teased him but loved him all the same. Ron was never meant to take care of him, it wasn’t the way it worked. And now that he had to, he didn’t know how to make it better. Nothing would fill that gap inside either of them, nothing but time.

George turned and placed his hand on the door handle. He hesitated and looked back at Ron.

“Don’t mention this to Mum aye?” George said his voice low but clear.

“Obviously.” Ron replied, rooted to the spot. George gave a faint smile, then went to turn away again but his eyes rested on Ron.

“Or Dad.” George said, his expression unreadable.

“I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you want.” Ron said, looking sadly at his broken brother. George said nothing for a moment, just standing still, looking away into the distance.

“That would probably be best.” George said. He looked up at Ron again, nodded, pulled open the door and shut it quietly behind him.

He left Ron alone in the twins room, staring at the Fred’s made bed that remained untouched. He knew that seeing that each night before he switched off the light would not help George in any respect. A light bulb flashed over his head, although faded for a moment when he considered it may not be the best way to deal with this issue.

Running out of George’s room he jumped up the stairs and reached George in a matter of seconds.

“What?” George snapped, as Ron jumped in front of him blocking his path.

“I want your room.” Ron said, crossing his arms and smiling down at him.

“You want my room?” George said, raising one eyebrow.

“Yes.” Ron said.

“Why?” George said, looking up at him curiously.

“Because Harry and I deserve a bigger room. You can have my cramped one up stairs away from civilisation.” Ron said his smile widening.

“And you’ll be closer to Ginny’s room, which is coincidentally where Hermione is supposed to be sleeping right?” George asked, smiling more as Ron turned pink.

“Coincidentally yes.” Ron replied, as it dawned on him how much better that would be for everyone involved.

“And why am I going to give you my room.” George said looking amused.

“Because.” Ron smiled down at him.

“Are you going to blackmail me? You’ll tell if I won’t move.” George said, his smile growing. He doubted that Ron would be successful in this endeavour.

“No nothing like that. But I think it may help you, to not... It might help.” Ron said, his eyes looking down at the ground as he spoke, not wanting to see George’s reactions to his words.

George opened his mouth a retort already ready to go, but he shut his mouth again. He kept his gaze on a random point behind Ron as he stood, thinking.

“Ok.” George said slowly.

“But?” Ron said looking up at George.

“But nothing.” George said a blank expression on his face. The shower turned off above them, the only sound left was the chattering of the happy people downstairs floating up from the kitchen.

“So you’re just going to let me have your room?” Ron said, sounding unsure. There must be some rule, some clause, there always was. He had always loved the twins but had to accept they would always bend the rules, and he was afraid this was no exception.

“Sure, I’m game.” George said smiling. “You have to convince Mum though.”

Ron groaned he knew there was going to be something.

“Good luck with that.” George said patting him on the back before he pushed past him and made his way upstairs to take a shower. Leaving Ron alone on the staircase, a plan formulating in his head.


	7. Questions

“Ron you coming?” Harry asked from the doorway, he was showered and dressed, ready to head out to the dinner party.

Ron stopped on the last step, deep in thought. Looking towards the kitchen, where his mother was busily cooking, back to Harry, the door open behind him, showing him the yard.

“Just a minute.” Ron said, he smiled at Harry who followed Ron’s gaze with a curious look before heading outside, letting the door shut behind him.

Ron remained on the step, not knowing what to say, unsure of how to phrase it to make his mother see his views, and say yes. The only problem was he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to be honest and do the concerned brother thing, or lie and pretend it was about him getting a bigger room that was closer to Hermione.

“Is..” Ginny called out from behind him, bringing his focus back to the room.

“He just went outside.” Ron said cutting Ginny short, they both knew what she was going to ask.

“Ok sweet.” Ginny said, pushing past Ron as she walked hurriedly towards the door a large smile on her face as she greeted the guests, then disappeared behind the door, which swung shut behind her.

Molly was still busy in the kitchen, seemingly remaining ignorant that Ron was waiting on the bottom step figuring out how to start a conversation with her. Ron watched her for a moment, wondering if she knew he was there.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see him lingering, obviously waiting for Hermione to come down. Turning to face the oven, hiding her face from view she smiled. It was about time, she thought to herself.  Facing the bench to cut up some more vegetables, she saw Hermione gracefully running down the stairs towards him. Deliberately turning her back to them, her grin widened, they were cute, but she had caught enough of their secret snogging. Well what they thought was secret.

“Hello.” Hermione whispered, slipping her hand into Ron’s.

“Oh hi.” Ron said, pulled out of his thoughts again. Leaning forward he kissed her quickly, before looking back to the kitchen, hoping his mother didn’t catch that.

“Were you waiting for me?” Hermione said, her brown eyes looking lovingly at Ron.

“Sorta.” Ron gave a furtive look to the kitchen, before wrapping his arms around Hermione, and kissing her, the way he had been wanting to do for years.

Molly cleared her throat from the kitchen, her back still turned to them. The effect was instantaneous, Hermione and Ron separated immediately, smiling at each other.

“Maybe we should take this outside?” Hermione whispered, her hand squeezing Ron’s as she spoke.

“Yeah. I’ll be out in a moment. Save me a seat.” Ron said, looking back towards the kitchen, making up his mind. Kissing her on the top of her bushy brown hair, he pulled his hand from hers and made his way to the kitchen, as Hermione closed the door behind her as she smiled at the guests, giving one last look back at Ron, before the door separated them.

Ron leant against the cabinet, the sounds of laughter floating through the open kitchen window. Molly was busy cooking, not looking up at Ron, waiting for him to speak first.

“Mum..” Ron started, watching his mother, trying to gauge her mood. Wondering whether this was the right time to bring this up, or perhaps later would be better, when she wasn’t so busy. Bloody hell, he thought to himself, just do it.

“Yes.” Molly said, still pottering around the kitchen, waving her wand absentmindedly.

“Do you need any help?” Ron asked, a nervous expression now forming on his face.

“Ron what do you really want to ask me?” Molly stopped what she was doing, and turned to face Ron, giving him her sole attention. His eyes flicked to the ground momentarily, before looking into hers, a small smile held on his lips for a second, before fading as suddenly as it had appeared.

“Can Harry and I swap rooms with George?” Ron said, watching Molly’s face carefully, ready to step backwards if she showed any signs of spontaneous yelling that she was accustomed to, although never without cause.

Molly’s expression went blank, she was unreadable as she thought for a moment. Trying to see where Ron was coming from, trying to figure out if this was a good idea, weighing all of the options. Ron looked nervous as Molly stood frozen deep in thought. They waited in silence for a minute or so, the food cooking around them, vegetables been diced and sliced, muffled voices floating through the window.

“Yes.” Molly said quietly, almost as if she was unsure of her decision.

“Yes?” Ron repeated slowly, not sure if her heard correctly, it never occurred to him that it would be this easy. He was sure that he would have to argue, to convince her.

“As long as he says yes.” Molly said with an air of finality as she turned back to her cooking, flicking her wand quickly to save things from burning.

“He already did.” Ron said, still looking stunned. The twins room, George’s room wasn’t much bigger than his, but it was bigger.

“Then ok.” Molly said plating up the food, “You can move in after dinner, yes before dessert should be good.” Molly added, thinking aloud.

“Ok. Well, I’m going to head outside.” Ron said slowly backing out of the room, thinking that a sudden movement would change his mother’s mind.

“Can you send Hermione in here for a moment.” Molly asked looking up at her son before adding, “You don’t have to look so worried, its nothing bad.” Ron smiled weakly, before opening the door and heading outside.

What was left of the Order sat at the table, along with Luna, Neville and the Weasley’s talking merrily. Hermione was deep in a conversation with Fleur, Ginny and Harry were a few metres away from everybody leaning against the tree, hidden from sight from most of the guests, sucking face. George sat at the far end of the table, talking to Charlie a small grin slowly appearing on his face. Ron walked past Hermione, who looked up at him and smiled as he passed, and headed towards George. He dropped to his knee beside him and whispered into his ear.

“She said yes.” Ron whispered smugly.

“What!” George exclaimed, causing Ron to jump as he shouted in his ear. The rest of the table paused for a moment to look at them before continuing their conversations.

“I’m gonna get another drink.” Charlie said looking between them, before rising from his chair and heading inside.

“So that’s what you to were discussing in the kitchen.” George said, looking thoughtfully at his brother. “How did you..?” He added, looking suddenly concerned.

“I didn’t mention it I promise.” Ron said hurriedly, wiping the concerned look off George’s face. “I asked if we could swap, she stood silent and then said yes.”

“It almost seems too good to be true.” George said slowly, a mischievous grin forming on his face.

“We’re swapping after dinner.” Ron said ignoring his brothers remark, straightened up and headed towards Hermione.


	8. Dinner

The girls had decorated the trees while Ron was in the kitchen, they were full of sparkling lights, that were not very clear at the moment, but by the time the stars came out they would be beautiful. Hermione ended her conversation with Fleur, and turned smiling towards Ron.

Ron kissed her lightly on the lips, fully aware that his father was sitting a few chairs down from them.

“Mum wants to speak to you.” Ron said, as they pulled away.

“What? Why?” Hermione said, a frantic look forming in her eyes, looking intently at Ron for answers.

“It’s nothing bad.” Ron echoed his mother, kissing Hermione on the forehead before glancing down at the empty chair beside her, as she rose from her seat.

“Ok.” Hermione said, giving a small smile to Ron before wandering towards the house, leaving Ron to warn Harry and Ginny that Molly would be out soon.

Opening the backdoor she slowly approached the kitchen, growing more worried by the second, what was Molly going to say. Did she know about her night time trip upstairs? No, she couldn’t, Hermione reassured herself, they had been quiet. She couldn’t know.

“Molly?” Hermione said, unknowingly leaning against the same cabinet that Ron leant on only moments ago.

“Hello dear.” Molly answered, not looking up from her recipe book.

“Do you need a hand?” Hermione asked, wringing her hands nervously.

Molly looked up at her and chuckled, she had known her for years, she could tell that Hermione was unsure how this conversation was about to go. Placing the recipe book back in the cupboard she turned to her cooking, flicking her wand. Not wanting to beat around the bush, planning to catch Hermione by surprise she went straight to the point.

“You two are sleeping together.” Molly said, not taking her eyes off her cooking as she spoke to Hermione who blushed beside her.

“How did you..” Hermione started her eyes wide in surprise.

“Surprising as it may seem I am aware of everything that goes on in this house.” Molly said briskly, turning placing the cooked vegetables into a dish.

“Everything.” Hermione muttered to herself, going redder by the second.

“Yes, I have already spoken to Harry and Ginny about their behaviour.” Molly said as she plated some food with a flick of her wand and sent it outside to the table where everyone was gathered outside.

“I..” Hermione started, her eyes no longer focusing on the floor as Molly turned towards her, giving Hermione her full attention.

“Now you are both of age..” Molly started her eyes not cold with fury but warm with their usual love, which surprised Hermione even more.

“It’s my nightmares!” Hermione burst out, interrupting Molly midstream. Molly raised her eyebrow only slightly, which shut Hermione up immediately.

“I am fully aware of the circumstances my dear. And I have no problem with you two as long as it remains just sleeping together. I know that I speak for your parents also when I say in no universe will you to be able to sex in this house.” Molly said, speaking calmly but firmly, her eyes seemed ready to flare at hesitation or resistance from Hermione.

“That won’t be a problem I swear!” Hermione exclaimed blushing profusely.

“I was young and in love myself at your age, even with your best intentions I am sure this issue will arise at some point. But for now your word is enough.” Molly said, smiling at Hermione as she spoke. This chat was going a damn sight better than her little chat with Ginny.

Hermione smiled back at Molly not quite knowing what to say, not wanting to say the wrong thing, he was her son after all, her baby boy. She felt mortified.

“Now let’s go and get some dinner, before the boys eat it all. You can tell the others everything afterwards.” Molly said, as she pulled off her apron and approached the door. Hermione followed, the blush in her cheeks finally vanishing.

**...**

“What was that about?” Ron whispered to Hermione as she sat down next to him. The food had reached the table before Molly and Hermione, but no one had touched it yet, they sat chatting, not wanting to stop their conversations. Ginny and Harry were only holding hands, careful not to anger Molly, and were deep in conversation, smiling and laughing.

“She knows we’re sleeping together.” Hermione whispered back, smiling at Ginny and Harry as they turned around at the sound of her voice.

“And..” Ron said, kissing Hermione on the cheek, wanting to do more but knowing it was not the best move under his mother’s watchful gaze, especially after she had just given him permission to move closer to Hermione, and Harry to Ginny.

“She’s not fussed, as long as it’s just sleeping.” Hermione whispered back, lowering her voice further as the conversations paused, Molly had brought out the rest of the dishes, and the table was gradually hushing. Ginny and Harry turned away from each other, and placed both their hands on the table in front of them. Fleur dropped back in her seat beside Bill with two drinks in her hands, after she had just finished her conversation with Charlie. After the Weasley’s initial hate for Fleur had died down, they had all become quite close especially over the last few months.

**...**

Dinner was delicious as usual and as expected. They all sat together chatting merrily and laughing at one another. As the food quickly disappeared in front of them, the sun began to climb down the sky and soon the sky was purple and pink and the bugs were beginning to encircle the hanging lights.  Molly and Fleur flicked their wands and collected all the dishes and Molly looked over at Ron who took it as his cue to get up.

“Where are you going?” Hermione asked as Ron stood up beside her and looked over at Harry who promptly stood up. They had had a whispered discussion throughout dinner, they were ready to move now. Harry couldn’t believe that it would be their room, he felt like they were in Ron’s room but now, it would be their room.

“To move into George’s room.” Ron said kissing Hermione, before stepping towards Harry and looking over at George who stood up as well. Hopefully he would be able to get a proper night’s sleep.

“Do you..” Hermione asked, looking from George, to Harry then back at Ron again.

“No its fine, hopefully we won’t be too long.” Ron said smiling at her before turning away and heading off towards the house with George and Harry by his sides, their cheery voices wafted back to Hermione before the door was shut behind them and they were cut off.

Hermione sat quiet for a few minutes trying to work out the reason for them moving, while the others chatted around her. Bill and Charlie were getting considerably more drunk as the minutes passed, so Fleur sent them both inside as she didn’t want to hear their yelling. Bill gave Fleur an extremely passionate kiss before heading inside with Charlie to play wizard chess. Giving up Hermione turned to Ginny who was talking to Luna. She waited for Ginny to pause before she butted in.

“Why are they moving?” Hermione asked, smiling apologetically at Luna who smiled dreamily back and then got up and wandered over to Hagrid and started chatting to him.

“Because there are two of them and only one of George.” Ginny replied before taking a sip of her butterbeer.

“So they need a bigger room.” Hermione pondered aloud, still not sure that was the real reason but knew that it made sense, it could just be something simple. Not everything had a big complicated reason.

“Yeah, why else?”  Ginny said raising her eyebrow, she took another sip of butterbeer and smiled over at her mother.

“To be closer to you.” Hermione said grinning at Ginny who flushed red, she wasn’t embarrassed just remembering her argument with her mother regarding Harry and her and their level of PDA.

“Or you.” Ginny added smirking at Hermione.

“Both probably.” Hermione replied as Neville walked towards them, with a butterbeer in his hand.

Neville sat down in Luna’s vacated chair and they chatted to him for the next hour. Yelling from the house wafted towards the table, but it was so muffled it was impossible to tell if it was from Bill and Charlie or George, Harry and Ron.

The moon and stars were out by the time Molly stood up and announced that dessert was ready. Sending Neville upstairs to check on the moving, she went inside and sent the desserts outside in a few minutes. Neville didn’t come back downstairs for another hour, until Luna went up to get him, as they were heading off together, they were both staying at the same motel as both of their homes were still in the last stages of rebuilding.

“Can’t believe they missed dessert.” Ginny said as they headed towards the house. The guests had left, yelling goodbyes up the stairs to George, Ron and Harry who shouted down but did not come to downstairs to bid them goodbye in person. Only seven of them remained in the house.


	9. Undisturbed

It was just past midnight, all of their belongings had been moved. There were a few incidents involving some interesting items hidden in George’s room, which he had forgotten and made a bit of mess when touched. A few of their belongings collided on the stairs but nothing that broke was not able to be fixed. Neither Ron nor George would move into each other’s room, until the room had been scrubbed and washed and dusted, they didn’t want to have to do themselves. So they took an extra hour cleaning every surface before moving into their new rooms.

Harry finally had room to unpack his clothes that Molly had insisted he bought, after seeing his ripped and tight clothing and had sent Hermione, Ron and Harry out to buy new clothes, muggle clothes only two days ago. He could now unpack everything and was surprised when he discovered how many possessions he now had, after living the first 11 years of his life with nothing. They had also retrieved the belongings he had left in Privet Drive, and by the time Harry and Ron had finished unpacking they were physically exhausted and shocked that everything fit in the room.

After showering and getting into their clean sheets in their fresh pyjamas, Harry slipped off to Ginny’s room and Hermione slipped into Ron’s bed. She was half asleep when she put her cold feet up against Ron. Ron wrapped his arm around her and she was asleep in seconds.

He however couldn’t sleep. He shut his eyes and tried to clear his mind but he simply couldn’t do it. Every half hour he checked the clock, but only 4 minutes had gone past. After feeling as though he had been lying in bed awake for 4 hours and only 32 minutes had passed he sat up slowly, moved past Hermione and stood up, glancing back at her sleeping figure before shutting the door behind him.

Wide awake, but exhausted, he had no idea where he wanted to go, but found he had his wand in his hand, and found his feet leading him up the stairs to his old room in the darkness, he had walked this familiar path thousands of times, he knew exactly where he was heading, he was just unsure why.

Reaching the door, his hand hovered over the door handle for a second, he straining his ears, trying to hear something, anything, but he could only make the usual sounds of the house at night. Pushing the door open quietly, he lit his wand and shined it towards where his bed used to lie, but now George’s bed was there, with him lying in it.

Shielding the light with his hand, careful not to wake George, he left the door wide open behind him as he approached the bed, checking whether or not George was having another nightmare. He wanted to be sure that this room change was actually helping him, because otherwise he was out of ideas. George’s blankets still covered his still body, he wasn’t covered with sweat, he didn’t look as though he was in pain, he wasn’t muttering to himself, he was fine.

Ron turned to leave, but couldn’t make himself step out of the door, he just couldn’t leave. Realising why he brought his wand he summoned an armchair, desperately hoping it would fit through the doorframe and wouldn’t hit anything on the way, so that it wouldn’t wake anybody in this house up, on its way to the room.

The armchair flew past Ron who stepped away from the door, and landed by George’s bed facing the window, which gave the only light to the room from the moon, now that Ron’s wand was extinguished. 

Shutting the door quietly Ron walked over towards the armchair, even without light he knew which floorboard to avoid, he had lived in this room his entire life he knew it back to front. Placing his wand on the arm of the chair, he dropped down, and kept his tired eyes fixed on George.

He was steadily breathing in and out, from the moon light that touched George’s face Ron could see him sleeping peacefully. Watching him for a few minutes, the rhythm of steady breathing lulled Ron to sleep. Finally after endless hours of been awake he heavy eyelids dropped and he feel asleep, hoping that his snoring wouldn’t wake George up. Hoping that George wouldn’t need to be woken up.

**...**

Dawn had long since broken, and the sun was shining through the window right onto Ron’s face, forcing himself out of his sleep, out of dreams and into the world of reality.  His open eyes immediately flicked to George who remained fast asleep, hopefully blissfully unaware of Ron’s presence in the room. His neck hurt, as did his arm that he had been lying on. He cracked his neck, stretched his arms and stood up, stretching his body. Glancing down at his watch, he saw it was 5.23am, it was time to head back to bed. Deciding against sending the chair back to the living room unaided, he used the hover charm, opened the door, then took one last look at George who still lay peace and undisturbed, before shutting the door quietly behind him.

He made his way slowly down the staircase, carefully avoiding the steps that creaked in certain places, he didn’t want to wake anyone up, but he had to move quickly, his dad would be up by 5.30. Placing the chair carefully in the living room he headed to the kitchen, and poured himself a glass of water. Sculling it he left it upside down on the bench, now if anyone asked, he could say he got himself a drink.

Glancing down at his watch he turned out of the kitchen and ran up the stairs as quickly and quietly as he could, Arthur’s alarm would be going off in just under one minute. Almost missing his new bedroom, he doubled back and stood outside the door for a second gathering his breath. Taking a deep breath in, he opened the door quietly and shut it behind him.

Hermione was still fast asleep and Harry was lying in his bed. Shit. He forgot that Harry didn’t stay the whole night with Ginny, especially after Molly ‘chatted’ with Ginny. How long was he awake for, wondering where Ron was? Hopefully, he just came in half asleep and didn’t even notice.

Lightly placing his wand on his bedside table, he picked up the covers and climbed into bed, wrapping his arm around Hermione and pulling her close to him as he shut his eyes, and fell asleep again.


	10. Notice

The sun fell on Ron’s face as he was awake once more, having only shut his eyes a few short hours ago. He stifled a yawn as he saw Harry watching him from across the room where he lay silently.

“Where were you last night?” Harry whispered, still careful not to wake Hermione who was still fast asleep, her alarm wouldn’t go off for another minute.

“Just got a drink from the kitchen.” Ron replied, getting out of bed again and walking towards the set of drawers sitting in the corner, avoiding Harry’s gaze.

“Ok.” Harry didn’t sound convinced, he saw the way Ron touched his neck as he walked, it was still stiff from sleeping on an armchair, but Harry didn’t know that. Despite the obvious lack of sleep, from the bags underneath his eyes and his covered yawn, he seemed to be happy which made Harry even more curious.

“Ok.” Ron replied as he grabbed a change of clothes and turned back to Harry before giving him a fleeting smile and heading out the door, off to the shower.

Harry stayed on the edge of his bed, his gaze on the door which Ron had just vanished through with Hermione across the room still fast asleep in bed, her face calm. Pushing Ron’s night time adventures out of his head Harry scanned the room, their room. He finally had his own room, well technically it wasn’t his own room, but it was Ron and Harry’s room.

He had Grimmauld Place, but right now he didn’t want to go back there, he couldn’t go back there yet. He couldn’t face the memories, it was hard enough after Sirius died, but after Tonks, after Lupin, after Fred, after everybody, he wouldn’t be able to go back, not yet.

Pushing that out of his head, he went back to admiring their room. It hadn’t taken them long to move in, they did it in one go, mainly because none of them wanted this to stretch out and take days, like stuff often did when they paused to reminisce, but none of them wanted to hold onto fond memories while moving, it would just make everything too hard. Sometimes everything was too hard.

“Harry?” Hermione muttered, her hand slamming down on her alarm clock, and her eyes squinting over at Harry as registered the light that was streaming in through the open window.

“Morning.” Harry said smiling at Hermione smiled back as she grabbed her hair tie off the bedside table and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. “How’d you sleep?” Harry asked as Hermione pushed back the sheets and swung her legs over the bed, placing her bare feet against the cold wood.

“Perfectly.” Hermione smiled, remembering what it felt like to lie in Ron’s arms and wondering why she waited so many years to do so. “You?”

“Good.” Harry replied, turning away from Hermione and staring down at his hands, he was no longer getting his old nightmares, he didn’t have any at the moment, but that could change with time. It seemed after all these years, he was the only one without nightmares.

“Getting used to heading back to bed after Ginny’s peacefully sleeping?” Hermione asked, staring intently at Harry.

“How did you…” Harry looked up quickly, he didn’t think that they had figured it out yet, but who was he kidding, this was Hermione.

“Harry, you guys are my best friends, Merlin you’re my family, I notice.” Hermione cut off Harry as she moved from Ron’s bed and sat down beside Harry, looking at him with a worried expression on her face.

“Does Ron?” Harry started again, somehow already knowing the answer, but wanting to ask the question anyway, just in case he was wrong.

“Of course, she is his sister.” Hermione replied, giving Harry a small sad smile, he wasn’t alone in this, they were all damaged by the war, they were all patching each other up, together.

Hermione and Harry sat in silence for a few minutes, as the sun shone down on them as they sat deep in thought, wondering when things would get better, if they would ever be able to stop reliving the past, stop visiting horrors in their sleep. Harry hadn’t seen anything he couldn’t handle in his dreams yet and Hermione’s hadn’t bothered her lately, but just because their nightmares weren’t there didn’t mean they weren’t waiting on the side lines ready to strike. They were both hoping that they would be ready when they did.

“Is Ron okay?” Harry asked, looking over at Hermione, breaking the silence. Hermione didn’t answer for a few seconds, just stared at the floor, deep in thought.

“As okay as one is in the circumstances.” Hermione replied looking up at Harry looking concerned.

“No nightmares?” Harry asked, his eyes flitting to the bed where Ron slept, where Ron hadn’t been in when he came in last night. Perhaps he was in the kitchen, but maybe he wasn’t.

“Not as far as I can tell. Are you getting them?” Hermione spoke slowly, as though she was still running through her conversations with Ron, trying to figure out whether he was getting nightmares that none of them knew about it. Was it just Ginny and her or did the horror infect Ron and Harry’s supposedly peaceful slumbers as well.

“Not badly.” Harry answered truthfully, his eyes still resting on Ron’s bed.

“What does that mean?” Hermione watched him quizzically, but he didn’t look up from Ron’s bed, so she just sat silently as he thought for a few moments, constructing how he was going to say it.

“Better than what I had.. before.” Harry muttered, not wanting to relive those visions, that he had denied enjoying in a sense, he had never told Hermione before how he had felt about seeing them, but he was glad that they were over, for good. They were painful, but they were useful.

“They weren’t really nightmares though..” Hermione started.

“I know.” Harry cut Hermione off, moving his gaze from Ron’s bed and turning to face Hermione, who gave Harry an apologetic look before smiling.

“They’re over now and they’re never coming back.” Hermione declared, grinning at Harry. Sure the nightmares could return for her, and Harry’s nightmares could worsen, but at least those horrors would only plague their sleep. For now, the world was relatively peaceful, which hopefully meant that their nightmares wouldn’t turn into reality.

“Thank Merlin for that.” Harry said giving Hermione a smile before scanning the room again. They sat in silence for a few seconds, listening to the sounds of the house. Everyone was awake now, Arthur had already left, so only six remained, but more would come to visit soon. Social calls had gone up since the war ended.

“Sounds like the showers free, see you at breakfast.” Hermione said getting up and grabbing her pile of clean clothes as they heard the distinct sound of the shower turning off.

“Yeah.” Harry replied to an empty room. Hermione had already shut the door behind her when he had answered her, he was too busy staring at his new room. He knew it wouldn’t last long, George still had his flat, hence why the move was so simple, not everything was unpacked from Muriel’s and not everything from the flat had been saved. Sooner or later, both George and Hermione would be gone, but for now, now they were all together. Hanging onto that thought Harry smiled to himself before standing up off the bed and rummaging through his clothes to grab a clean t shirt before heading upstairs to shower.


	11. Worry

After three nights of sneaking up to George’s room once Hermione was asleep, falling asleep in an armchair brought up from the lounge, and sneaking back into bed after hovering the chair back into the living room and planting a used glass on the bench as an excuse for disappearing during the night, Ron was exhausted. His neck was no longer sore as he had learnt to bring a pillow up with the armchair but he was tired, as he was wary of been caught, especially by George, so made himself sit uncomfortably so that he wouldn’t over sleep. Each night, just like the first night, George would lay peacefully, without squirming and mumbling, he seemed to be fine.

On the fourth night since they had switched rooms, Ron lay in bed with his arms wrapped around Hermione wished her goodnight and waited for her to go to sleep. Her breath slowed and grew steady as his eyelids fluttered and in his tiredness he fell asleep with her.

The moon was shining through the window when Ron woke up with a start. Harry was pulling the blankets over himself, having just got back from Ginny’s room, the opening or closing of the door must have woken Ron up. He lay silently for a few minutes, waiting for Harry to fall asleep before he slipped out of bed and out the door and quietly ascended the staircase, making his way up to his old room, to George.

Reaching the door, he quietly opened it, checked that George was asleep, left the door open wide and summoned the armchair, which silently sailed into the room and landed where it had been for four nights in a row now. Shutting the door quietly behind him, Ron stepped over the creaking floor board and sank into the arm chair, placing the pillow beneath his head before resting his eyes on George.

“You’re late.” George whispered, causing Ron to jump out of the chair and fall onto the ground onto his ass.

“Merlin!” Ron exclaimed as he stood up and rubbed his head which he hit on his way to the floor and dropped onto the armchair, staring at George who was now lying face down into his pillow in an attempt to muffle his laughs.

“Didn’t mean to frighten you, it was just an observation.” George whispered as he rolled over, after a few minutes of silent laughter while Ron got over his initial shock and confirmed that his tailbone was not in fact broken.

“How..” Ron started staring at George who sat up in his bed, repositioned his pillow and leant against the wall before flicking the light on, which blinded both Ron and him, so Ron quickly dimmed it.

“How long have I known? How long have I been awake? How long before I told you? How..” George asked, smiling at Ron who blushed slightly and stared at the ground.

“George.” Ron muttered, cutting George off mid-question.

“That’s enough hows then, so what about some whys?” George said as Ron flicked his wand towards the door, performing the muffling charm so that their conversation wouldn’t wake anyone up or be overheard.

“How about because I missed my old room.” Ron replied, smirking at George.

“You don’t have to keep checking up on me, I’m fine. You’ve been here for three nights already, you’re exhausted. Plus if I was still getting them, wouldn’t you know by now?” George said, grateful for his brothers concern but wishing he didn’t need it. Ron was his little brother who Fred and him used to tease, he wasn’t supposed to be looking after him, that wasn’t right.

“Nobody is ever ‘fine’, you are most certainly not ‘fine’ none of us are ‘fine’. ‘Fine’ is bullshit.” Ron replied, a stern look on his face and his tried not to yell. He was tired and his was pissed off with everyone being ‘fine’, he was over the lies and the excuses, they were not ‘fine’.

“What..” George started, a small smirk on his face as a joke formed in his mouth and danced on the edge of his tongue.

“George!” Ron cut George off he didn’t want to hear him joke, not right now.

“This isn’t a slumber party Ron, we’re not going to have heart to hearts, this is…” George replied, he didn’t want to broach the subject, neither of them did, but both of them knew they had to sooner or later.

“I’m not going to ask who you kissed, who you’ve got a crush on. I’m worried about…” Ron said, cutting George off again, it seemed that neither of them would let each other finish their trains of thoughts.

“Well don’t be.” George said, cutting off Ron. They sat in silence, with neither of them knowing what to say next. The moon shone above them, painfully reminding Ron of Lupin, who would have drunk his potion hours prior to the full moon rising. Tearing his eyes away from the moon, Ron stared at the floor, aware that George was watching him closely.

“I…” Ron started, looking up at George and breaking the silence that hung over the room.

“You’re so busy worrying about everyone, have you given a thought to yourself?” George cut across Ron, his eyes soft and his voice harsh.

“Why would I…” Ron looked surprised, he hadn’t expected this topic to come up, he wasn’t worried about himself, it was George he was worried about now, and Hermione revisiting the Manor in her nightmares while he was upstairs watching over George.

“Have you had a proper night’s sleep since… since…” George asked, he wasn’t able to say what came after since, he had accepted it now, but he still couldn’t say it, the words were not able to tumble out of his mouth, his eyes misted over and he just sat staring at Ron, as he trailed off.

“Yes I…” Ron replied, ignoring the since, he knew exactly what George meant, but he couldn’t say it either.

“When you weren’t so exhausted you collapsed onto your pillow, or when your head wasn’t full of concern for Hermione, or Ginny, or Harry, or me or anyone?” George asked, his face full of concern as he watched Ron closely, Ron never was very good with processing his emotions. It took him years to admit to loving Hermione, so it was hard to tell how much of what had happened he had accepted, or if he just pushed everything to the back of his mind to deal with another day.

“Probably.” Ron muttered, not able to look at George when he spoke.

“How are you?” George asked, leaning forward off his pillow as he watched Ron, whose gaze steadily rose from the floor before stopping just a bit above George’s head.

“I thought this wasn’t…” Ron answered, his eyes lowering a little bit as he looked at George.

“Just answer the question Ron.” George said quietly but clearly, cutting Ron off midstream.

“I’m…” Ron answered, hesitating for a moment before adding, “fine.”

“I thought…” George replied, smirking as he spoke.

“Shut up.” Ron cut him off, he wasn’t ‘fine’ they both knew they weren’t but what else could he say. They sat in silence for a few minutes with George smirking at him before Ron added, “I liked it better when you pretended to sleep.”

“Well we can’t always get what we want.” George replied with a laugh, it was so good to see a real smile on his face, and hear his laugh again, Ron couldn’t help but laugh too.

“Ain’t that the truth.” Ron replied, his laugh freezing when he looked out the window again, just for a second, and the full moon caused his heart to skip a beat. He knew that he would never be able to look at full moon again without feeling overwhelming grief. It reminded him of Lupin, which would remind him of Tonks, and then of baby Teddy, who now had no parents, and then it would remind him of the battle, and everyone who died. The only person it didn’t remind him of was Fred, because he never forgot him for a second, he was always in the front of his mind, and that would never change.

Silence engulfed the room again, George lay back down in bed and Ron got comfortable, knowing there was no point waking up early to leave as George already knew he was here, so he had lost the need to sneak out just after dawn. George’s breathing slowed and Ron stared out the window, up at the moon, letting the silent tears stream down his face.

Ron shut his eyes, stretched out his legs and listened to George’s constant breathing, letting it lull him to sleep. The moon was slowly descending, the sun would be out soon, and Ron would need to head back in a two or three hours.

“They’re worried about you.” George whispered, causing Ron’s body to tense as he almost fell back onto the floor, he was sure he was asleep now.

“Who?” Ron whispered back groggily, he was almost asleep.

“The others, Harry knows you’re not getting thirsty. Your beds have been next to each other since you were 11.” George whispered back, both their eyes were shut, they were on the brink of sleep.

“Oh.” Ron mumbled, he hadn’t figured that.

“What are you going to tell them?” George whispered after a few moments silence, he almost sounded a bit tense, wondering if Ron would mention his nightmares.

“Not this. Maybe I feel the need to do some pre-dawn fishing.” Ron whispered back, knowing what George was thinking, he needed an excuse, that didn’t involve the truth.

“Without catching anything?” George whispered back, they had been fishing before, one holiday when Hermione and Harry came to visit a few years back. Thanks to their fathers fascination with the Muggles, Hermione taught them, Ron and Ginny were the best, they caught 14 fish between the two of them, without magic. Fred and George had spent their time discretely ruining Percy’s attempts to fish, which they had considered the best way to spend their day.

“De-gnoming?” Ron whispered back after a minute deep in thought, both of them stuck for ideas.

“What about uhm… yaga?” George whispered, searching for the name.

“What?” Ron failed at covering his laugh, he grinned at George as he exploded with laughter.

“That thing that Ginny and Hermione do, that Muggle stretching thing.” George whispered back when Ron had stopped laughing.

“Ohh! Yoga.” Ron replied, laughing again and George couldn’t help but laugh with him. Their faces felt weird, laughter came few and far between these days, their muscles weren’t used to it.

“Yeah that.” George said, grinning at Ron.

“Needs work.” Ron replied after a moment of consideration, a horrible vision of them asking him to join in due to his night time sessions, convinced him not to use that excuse.

“I’m sure you’ll think of something.” George whispered back, grinning at Ron, he couldn’t wait to hear what he came up with in the end, it would no doubt be lacklustre.

“Now shut up and let me sleep.” Ron said, closing his eyes again and repositioning himself, for maximum comfort. George lay back down, flicked the curtains shut with his wand before rolling over, he didn’t want the sun to wake Ron up, he needed to sleep in.

“You’re like my cranky guardian angel.” George whispered, with a grin on his face as he fell into sleep.

“You should be so lucky.” Ron mumbled, as waved his wand, nulling the muffling spell before falling asleep himself.


	12. Be Back

The sun shone through the open curtain onto Hermione, as she squinted at the window before blindly grabbing her wand off the bedside table and shutting the curtains, covering her face in shadow. Harry shifted in his sleep, he was on the brink of consciousness. Taking a deep breath, Hermione lifted her head to look at the clock ticking silently on the wall. It was almost 8am.

The bed lay bare beside her, she moved her hand to where Ron usually lay and the bed was cold, he hadn’t lain there in a while, maybe a few hours. It wasn’t like him to wake up early, he would only be half-awake when Hermione left his room in the morning, but now he was already up.

Harry groaned as he opened his eyes and looked across at Hermione as he alarm went off, forcing him out of his last layer of sleep and into reality. The shower went on above them, and Hermione’s gaze went to the cupboard which was ajar. Maybe Ron was in the shower and he had just left a few minutes ago, maybe he wasn’t gone for hours.

“What time did you get back?” Hermione asked Harry as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up slowly.

“The moon was out, but no clue what time. Why?” Harry replied, yawning as he sat up and rubbed his eyes, he didn’t like waking up early either but there was so much stuff still to be down around the house so he would need to.

“Was Ron here?” Hermione asked, feeling her cheeks flush red, she isn’t sure why she asks, and part of her wished she didn’t, but the words tumble out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

“Yeah, why?” Harry raises his eyebrow, and his eyes follow her to the door where she hovers for a second before opening in it.

“Honestly, I don’t know why I asked. I’m going to take a shower.” Hermione pauses by the door as she shrugs to Harry, she wishes she knew if there was a reason for her asking but she can’t really find it, she’s worried about Ron that’s all she decides.

Ginny isn’t asleep in her bed when Hermione enters her room, her hairbrush is gone so it must be her in the shower, not Ron as she had originally thought. Grabbing a clean change of clothes and a hair tie Hermione made her way upstairs. Luckily they didn’t have only one shower, although Ginny was in the shower that Hermione preferred as she could see her reflection in the mirror when she was washing her face and more importantly it was warmer.

Ten minutes later Hermione made her way down the staircase with her hair wet, as she dried it with a towel attempting to dry it the Muggle way as she left her wand down in Ron’s room. Trying to not trip down the stairs at the same time as drying her hair Hermione didn’t even notice Ginny making her way up the staircase until she had stopped in front of her.

“Could you?” Ginny says as she grins at Hermione whose absent minded expression fades and she smiles up at Ginny who finishes her French plait and gets Hermione to tie it.

“You coming?” Ginny asks as she walks beside Hermione down the stairs towards their room. For a moment Hermione wonders why she changed direction until it occurs to her that she came to fetch her.

When they reached the kitchen Hermione stops talking as she checks out the window, trying to find any sign of Ron but he is nowhere to be found and neither is George. Harry sat at the table with half a piece of toast sitting on his plate as he takes a sip of orange juice, before placing his glass down, wiping his mouth quickly and kissing Ginny.

Hermione turned her back on the two of them as their kiss deepened and she grabbed two bowls from the cabinet, leaving one on the bench for Ginny and placing her bowl beside it as she walks over to the cupboard to grab the cereal.

Halfway through pouring it into her bowl she noticed a piece of paper stuck on the edge of the box, with her name written on it in Ron’s handwriting. Finishing pouring her cereal in she dropped the box on the bench beside her bowl and tore off the note, hungrily scanning Ron’s writing.

_Be back some time this arvo.  
Ron  & George._

Hermione flipped the note over expecting to find more, this could not be all he had written. When did he leave? Why did he leave? Where were they?

He hadn’t answered any of the questions swimming around her skull, she wanted to know more. But she would have to wait, she could wait.

“Ron and George will be back this afternoon.” Hermione announced as she poured milk onto her cereal before turning back to the table where Ginny and Harry were now separated, both looking surprised.

“Back from?” Ginny asked as she leapt up from Harry’s lap and headed to the bench. Hermione sat down across from Harry as Ginny poured cereal and milk into her bowl at the same time.

“Wherever they are.” Hermione replied, shrugging at Harry as he gave her a questioning look.

“Do you at least know what they are doing?” Ginny asked as she dropped into the chair next to Hermione and handed her a spoon before digging into her cereal, she was starving.

“No idea.” Hermione answered. Harry exchanged a look with her, they were both semi-worried, especially about George and how he was dealing. It was good that George and Ron had a day just to themselves but Harry wished he knew where that was. Standing up he grabbed another piece of toast and spread jam over it quickly before taking a bite.

“So what are we doing today?” Harry asked, trying to elevate the mood of the room. Ginny was flipping through the Daily Prophet looking tense as she neared the obituaries and Hermione was staring at her spoon.

“I need new clothes, a few dresses and a pair of shorts.” Ginny answered, shutting the paper before she reached the dreaded spot, she hated seeing names that belonged to people she knew. Every time she looked at that page she remembered what it had felt like to read Fred’s name, along with all the others that died in the battle. Remus and Tonks were mentioned of course, along with many others and seeing the obituaries title always made her stomach drop. Perhaps with time that would change, but she wasn’t hopeful.

“We just went shopping, less than a week ago!” Harry replied, unaware of the pain Ginny felt as she saw a corner of the page she was avoiding, luckily she didn’t recognise the name but someone must of, someone missed them. And it made her feel like she was going to vomit up her cereal.

“Yeah, and?” Ginny replied pushing the obituaries out of her head, she couldn’t deal with that right now, she would deal with it later.

“I’ll stay here and de-gnome.” Harry said, looking out of the window as he spoke, it was going to be a scorcher today, the sun was already shining and there was not a cloud in sight. He was half expecting rain today, but that might come later.

“You do that. Hermione?” Ginny replied, kissing Harry softly before returning to her cereal and looking at Hermione who seem immersed in thought, her glazed eyes focussed on her spoon.

“I need some stuff too.” Hermione muttered, her voice sounding distant at first but her tone had reached normality by the time she said ‘too’.

“Like?” Ginny raised her eyebrow as she took another mouthful of cereal, whilst trying not to laugh as Hermione’s ears turned scarlet and tried to keep her expression neutral.

“Makeup and clothes and stuff.” Hermione muttered, not able to keep eye contact with Ginny as she spoke, fully aware that her ears were giving her away but pretending she didn’t notice. It was none of Ginny’s business, or Molly’s for that matter what Ron and her got up to, or what she wanted them to be getting up to, sure it was nothing, but her face went hot all the same under Ginny’s gaze.

“Uh-huh.” Ginny replied stifling a laugh by stuffing her mouth with the last of her cereal as Harry focussed on his toast, almost oblivious.

“So when are we going?” Hermione asked, pointedly ignoring Ginny’s remark and her smirk.


	13. Join Me

Ron stepped out of the fire hunched over and panting. It wasn’t that he disliked running, he just didn’t enjoy continuous running like he had been doing for over forty minutes.  He wasn’t used to moving so fast for such long periods of time, he used to be when he was training for Quidditch and also trying to impress Hermione, although his efforts failed miserably. Whatever he tried to do in school was to no avail, she still treated him the same, all the way to  their seventh year, that was when things finally changed, on the surface at least.

“You okay there Grandma?” George asked as he leant against the doorframe smirking at Ron as he glared up at him as he regained his breath.

“Shut up.” Ron replied breathlessly. Straightening his back he stood up, took a few deep breaths and slowed his heart rate down. Flicking his wand he sent his water bottle flying into his hand and he took a long sip before lowering it and sending it back into the other room with another flick of his wand. Stuffing his wand back into his pocket he took a step towards George, no longer glaring.

“Did you get it?” George asked, barely able to contain his apparent excitement. He had waited for the less than a minute while Ron drank and recovered, but he couldn’t wait any longer.

“Of course I bloody did.” Ron replied, grinning at him, and raising his eyebrow as George smiled and turned, leading Ron into the kitchen. They were in George and Fred’s flat, where they used to live together before it all happened. After spending the entire morning repairing and cleaning and replacing the basic furniture and everything they could see, they had split up around mainly England to find certain objects that George required.

It was weird for him to be here without Fred and it was weird for Ron to be here at all, he had only visited once or twice, so wasn’t super familiar with the layout at first. But after saving George from a sudden appearance of a pit in the hallway and a minor encounter with the cupboard and an assortment of other things, Ron was pretty familiar with the place, especially after scrubbing it for over an hour.

After being woken up by George and discovering that he had overslept they decided they would get this job done. George had been intending to do it for a few days now, and Ron wanted to get out of the house and also needed an excuse for not being in bed with Hermione when she woke up. George still didn’t want Ron to tell anyone about his nightmares, especially now he was no longer getting them, for now at least.

Ron had apparated straight to the kitchen and written a hurried note for Hermione and stuck it to the cereal box while George grabbed him a change of clothes from his room before apparating into the kitchen. George was sure that his apparating probably woke up Hermione, but they were gone before he could find out and she wouldn’t know anyway so no harm done.

“Did you get the…” Ron started but stopped once he laid his eyes on the kitchen table, it was covered in all the objects they had been retrieving over the past few hours. It was well past the afternoon by now, but neither of them wore a watch and they were too busy to look outside the window whilst outside, and they had spent most of their time apparating from building to building. Ron had no idea that the afternoon return date he had promised Hermione was already well over, and the sun was already down, the moon was high in the sky as it was almost 10 PM.

“That’s everything.” George said, pulling a chair back and dropping into it, like Ron he too was exhausted, but unlike Ron he was mentally exhausted. He had given Ron all the hard jobs, to test him and also so he didn’t have to do them himself.

“Everything you remember.” Ron replied smirking at George as he sat down on the kitchen bench, letting his long legs dangle to the floor as he leant his head against the cupboard. It had been a while since he was this relaxed. After about the first 6km of running all of the tension from his body had been released. He liked having something to do, something that he could do and do it well, even it was just for today. He loved bounding up the steps, sprinting down the hallways and sliding around the corners.

“That’s true.” George replied. He had been waiting for Ron to arrive for the last 20 minutes and was getting more and more nervous by the second. The last thing he had him retrieve was probably the second hardest thing to get to, he needed some advanced magic to get past the series of doors and trials to get to it, and a small part of George worried that Ron wouldn’t be able to.

“Anything else we need to do?” Ron asked as his eyes swept the room looking for anything out of place. He didn’t really want to go back to the Burrow not just yet, he liked it here. Everything felt different, less concrete like anything outside these walls was possible. While he was running and apparating and firing off spell after spell he could pretend that Fred was alive, that they were all alive, that life was relatively simple for once. Every object that George sent him to retrieve he had found and that made him feel like he had achieved something finally. Lately he felt like there was nothing he could do, nothing that made it better, that made any of this better.

“Not really, it’s…” George started, then looked down at his watch and his eyes widened, “It’s almost 10!”

“What?” Ron exclaimed, he had promised Hermione he would be home in the afternoon, the afternoon was long gone and so was the evening it was night time now, she would be heading to bed soon, they all would be.

“No wonder I’m starving.” George said a smile growing on his face as he stood up. “There’s a nice Muggle place we could go to. Apparate close by and its only about a 10 minute walk?” He had only been there once or twice and both times without Fred, he couldn’t go to any of their regular spots he just couldn’t, not tonight. Maybe in a few months, but right now he couldn’t handle it.

“Sure.” Ron replied sliding off the bench and taking a step towards George. He placed his hand on his and shut his eyes. Opening them, he found himself outside in the dark surrounded by trees, with a cool breeze cooling him down. Without another word they took off, George a few steps ahead of Ron weaving in and out of trees, going off the path every few steps and then passing by shop after shop filled with people.

“What?” Ron asked as George came to a stop in the middle of the pavement. There was nobody around them, this whole street was deserted, it was just them and a few closed shops.

“You… should… you definitely… yeah...” George muttered, watching Ron with such sudden intensity Ron was a little startled, he had no idea what caused this sudden change in George’s demeanour and why he felt like he was being examined.

“Spit it out.” Ron said cutting George off. George appeared deep in thought, and looked as though it pained him to say whatever he was thinking of saying.

“If you wanted to, I mean if you didn’t want to go to back to school with Hermione or go straight to the Ministry with Harry or whatever, if you wanted to I would, I was..” George rambled, sounding very unlike George, he never spoke like this, not when he was angry or happy or excited, this was something new, and emotion that Ron had never seen on his brother before. George was nervous.

“Get straight to it.” Ron said cutting George off again, not able to withstand any more of his rambling. He wanted the old George back and this rambling wasn’t helping, it made George seem vulnerable, which Ron knew to be true, but in his eyes his brothers were invincible, that was until the Battle. While away with Harry he had worried about his family endlessly, but part of him deep down inside knew they would be fine, they were tough enough, they could handle it. But then they couldn’t, and that made him feel sick. He wanted George to become the brother he once was, full of laughter and happiness, pranking and teasing and joking.

“Join me.” George said simply. He wasn’t able to look directly at Ron, so decided to focus on a point just above his head.

“Join you?” Ron asked, not entirely sure what his brother was asking of him. He knew that whatever it was serious due to the expression on George’s face but that was all he could tell.

“In the business.” George answered, his eyes meeting Ron’s as he smiled at him, his expression hopeful. Ron kept his expression neutral as he gulped, his whole future would ultimately rest on his decision, but he didn’t even consider the other option, he already knew what he was going to say. He guessed he had known all along.


	14. No Escape

Harry and Ginny were outside ‘taking in the nature’ as they had told Molly but Hermione knew they were just leaning against a tree making out, that was their main source of entertainment these days. The moon was up so they would be heading in soon and George and Ron weren’t home yet, even though it was well past the promised afternoon arrival date.

Hermione sat in front of the mirror braiding her hair, she was already dressed in her pajamas and had brushed her teeth. She was way beyond hoping they would be back soon, she was content with not spending her day waiting and worrying, she didn’t want to be that girl, who wanted to spend all their time with one person and longing for them throughout every second spent apart. She never wanted to be that girl, and she wasn’t but part of her, a small part of her was failing miserably. After everything they had all being through she was worried that with a moment’s notice one of them would slip away, just like Fred did, and be gone for ever.

After her shower she had shut the curtains before she sat down on her bed, with her back leant against the wall and read. She wouldn’t be able to help herself, she would keep glancing up from her book to stare out the window, checking to see if they were back yet, but with her view block she didn’t.

Whenever she strained her ears in the silent house she didn’t hear the sound of someone apparating or someone flooing in, all she heard was the muffled sound of strangled tears, from someone who was crying silently to themselves and breaths were short and sparse. She had learnt not to strain her ears when Molly was home and the house was seemingly quiet.

Usually the sound of chatter or laughter or moving around the house muffled the tears that came from everywhere, the kitchen, the bathroom, the garden, the bedroom. It made Hermione feel sick, it brought her back to the Great Hall, where her ears were awash with the sound of grief, so much so that she just wanted to scream to block it all out. She wanted to be able to do something to help Molly, to help them all including herself but she knew there was nothing. There were no words to cure the pain, there were no actions that could undo what had been done. She had wracked her brains to find something, anything that could make the crying stop, or even just cease for a small bout of happiness.

Even though it sickened her, her only solution was to put a muffling spell over Molly and Arthur’s room. The only way she could escape the tears. At night when she slipped into Ron’s bedroom she used to be able to hear Molly as she passed her bedroom door. Sometimes she could hear Arthur’s voice, quietly soothing her but often he wasn’t home when this took place. Molly tried to hide her tears, but she couldn’t escape them.

Hermione couldn’t escape them either, but she did her best to ignore them. She couldn’t, she wouldn’t tell Ron or Harry or Ginny or any of them what she heard, what she always heard but she was sure they already knew. No one could escape the tears in this house, even if they didn’t talk about them didn’t mean they weren’t there, they were creeping into every corner of the house.

Tonight she couldn’t hear the tears, which meant that Molly must have been in bed already, the charm still hadn’t worn off. Which meant it was safe to strain her ears and turn off the music that was playing quietly from the cd player that Hermione had bought among other things from her shopping trip with Ginny. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it, in case the music covered the crying not the spell.

When Ron was with her she felt better, everything was better. It wasn’t because he made her forget it was just that she felt she could deal with anything, them together, nothing would stop them. Part of thought that that was stupid, but she didn’t care, when he smiled or laughed or kissed her or held her in his arms, everything was ok. She could think clearly, her mind wasn’t clouded by grief. And the main thing that she was able to think about was her parents.

She wanted to get the back, but she had to find them first. And she needed help to do that, but she wanted to wait a little bit longer before she started to look for them. Every cell in her ached to find them, but there were still death eaters everywhere, not all of them had been killed and she didn’t want to risk someone finding out about her parents and killing them before she got there. She couldn’t bear the thought that after all this time, those long months apart a death eater would kill them just days before she reached them. The possibility that they were already dead didn’t even cross her mind.

“You going to Ron’s room?” Ginny asked, her voice penetrating Hermione’s mind and bringing her out of her thoughts.

“Huh?” Hermione asked, looking up at Ginny who had her back turned to her she was searching for something in the drawers, her hair was all tangled and her sleeve was sliding down her shoulder.

“Good book then?” Ginny turned back to her grinning and leant against the set of draws.

“Something like that.” Hermione replied, shutting her book without bothering to remember the page. Standing up she turned off the cd player and added, “I think I’ll go to Ron’s room now.”

“Ok, have fun.” Ginny smiled at her as she turned back to the mirror and brushed her hair quickly, it wasn’t difficult for Hermione to guess what was going on here. Taking her book and her wand with her left the room passing Harry on the staircase who was bounding up the steps.

As she reached Ron and Harry’s bedroom she heard Ginny’s door slam and then giggling to erupt which was quickly cut short, muffling charm no doubt. She hoped that Molly was already asleep, this would not be good if she found out what they were doing, although she didn’t catch them the last time or the time before, so the chances were pretty slim.

Shutting the door behind her, Hermione shut the curtains with a flick of her wand, dropped her book and her wand on the bedside table and climbed into bed. There was no point staying awake waiting for Ron’s return, hoping that he would come before she slept. He would be here whenever he arrived, whatever time that may be.

Pulling the covers over her, she took a deep breath, inhaling Ron’s scent and closed her eyes, imagining Ron wrapping his arm around her, keeping her safe in his embrace.


	15. An Unexpected Visitor

Letting the silence of the house wash over him Ron hesitated in front of his bedroom door for only a moment before he twisted the handle and poked his head inside. Harry’s bed was empty and there was a suspicious lack of sound coming from Ginny’s room. Taking a deep breath Ron decided against knocking loudly on their door and yelling. She was still his sister but he was just so tired, he couldn’t be bothered and it was not like this was the first time nor could he do anything about it, so the best solution for him was to ignore it.

Closing the door softly behind him careful not to wake Hermione he slipped off his shoes and went over to the cupboard to grab himself a change of clothes, he was absolutely filthy. Before he left the room he glanced back at Hermione who was still fast asleep. Smiling over at her, he shut the door behind him and lightly bounded up the stairs, hoping to beat George to the better shower.

Twenty minutes later Ron was in the kitchen slumped in a chair feeling dead on his feet. He had a half-eaten bowl of cereal in front of him, the spoon in his hand, both hovering above the bowl as he stared out the window at the moon far too exhausted to think. The garden was almost clear, but he had his eyes trained to the skies as he ate.

“How long does washing take?” George asked as he entered the kitchen with his empty bowl in his hand. They had both had showers, washed their hair clothing and scrubbed their skin to an inch of its life before putting all of their clothes into the wash, they had cleaned their shoes before they left. Their excuse was they hung out, walked a bit and then ran around a bit, playing some form of Muggle sport that they couldn’t quite remember the name of. They chose an unnamed Muggle sport mainly because they didn’t have anything on them that would pass for Quidditch, and also Harry and Ginny would be annoyed they weren’t invited.

This would hopefully explain their cuts and bruises and George would insist that he just needed a day away from it all to clear his head, and Ron had caught him leaving when he was up getting a glass of water and had tagged along to look after him, refusing to let him go alone. This excuse probably wouldn’t take but it was the best they had, not that anyone would believe a word of it but hopefully they would refrain from asking too many questions and just assume that it was a sensitive subject.

“No clue. We could just go to bed and leave it to Mum to hang out when she wakes up.” Ron answered, staring at his bowl and listening to his stomach grumble. Hunger overtook his tiredness and he began shovelling his cereal into his mouth before hesitating for a second and muttered, “Kreacher would know.” As he stood up and walked towards the sink.

Crack!

Ron dropped his bowl as Kreacher appeared in the centre of the table with what looked like a small racquet in his hand, a smile on his wrinkled face and not a speck of dirt on him.

Smash!

The bowl hit the floor and shattered, Ron swore and George dropped his spoon in to the sink with a clatter, before staring at Kreacher in disbelief.

“What are… uh I mean… how… uh hello.” Ron said, millions of questions running through his mind and his heart still beating far too fast for his liking.

“What’s with the racquet?” George asked, his voice quieter than usual, on the account that he was still stunned at Kreacher’s sudden arrival, and was trying to work out why he came.

“Hello Weasley’s.” Kreacher wheezed, his smile not vanishing just growing smaller as he examined their faces and then looked around the kitchen. The kitchen that he had helped clean and put things back where they belonged, it didn’t look as though he approved of the bowl on the floor as his eyes lingered on the milk spilt around the shards.

“I thought only Harry could summon you.” Ron muttered, still in disbelief. Not only had they not seen Kreacher in a few days but also Ron was exhausted, he just wanted to go and sleep. He did not want to deal with Kreacher at this time of the morning, not matter how much more tolerable he had become.

“Yes.” Kreacher answered, his face now expressionless as his glassy eyes widening stared out of the window into the backyard.

“So uhh, Kreacher why are you here?” George asked, as Ron fell silent beside him, questions forming in his head but his brain too tired to push them out of his mouth.

“We finished.” Kreacher replied as he shifted his weight onto his other foot and let his eyes focus on George.

“What?” George muttered as he watched Kreacher uncertainly. He hadn’t spent as much time as Ron had with him, and wasn’t used to his ways and mannerisms, and his stare wasn’t making him comfortable. Unlike Ron he hadn’t lived with him when he wasn’t bitter and horrible, he had only seen the almost polite version of him for a few hours, but had avoided him on principle.

“We use these in..” Kreacher started, his eyes now settled on Ron as he raised his hand that held the racquet slightly, causing Master Regulus’ locket to slip out from beneath the fabric of newly ironed pillowcase.

“Like a game?” Ron cut across him, staring at him with even more disbelief. He had never known house elves to play games or anything like that. Sure, the castle would be pretty empty during the holidays between the end of the school year and September 1st, but he had never really thought about what they would be doing in that time.

“Yes.” Kreacher answered.

“For fun?” George asked incredulously. What on earth do house elves do for fun he wondered. He couldn’t help but laugh, and despite the time and his tiredness, Ron joined in. Forgetting those upstairs in their beds asleep, they both laughed for a good two minutes before focusing on Kreacher who was standing silently on the table, apparently waiting for them to stop.

“Yes.” Kreacher replied, his eyes glancing around the room once more.

“So you uh..” Ron started but paused for a second when Kreacher gave them both a small nod.

Crack!

“What in the name of Merlin was that about?” George exclaimed as he exchanged a bewildered look with Ron. Kreacher had left as suddenly as he had arrived, no explanation of doing either. They hadn’t seen him in days and he just popped in without saying anything and then left again. Even if they weren’t so exhausted they would still be as confused.

“I’ll get my wand.” Ron said after shrugging, in the morning he was just going to chalk that up to their tiredness and say that Kreacher said something important they forgot or just didn’t come at all.

“Why?” George asked as he looked behind Ron with an odd expression on his face. The bowl was no longer in pieces on the floor.

“To fix the… or not.” Ron said as his eyes fell on the table where his bowl sat, whole and unbroken. Pretending the last minute or so didn’t happen he picked up his bowl and walked towards George.

 “Tea?” Ron asked as he handed George his bowl and spoon to wash. They had left their wands in their rooms so they would have to do it the Muggle way not that they minded, too much. Turning the stove on he filled the kettle with water and placed it on the heat, waiting for it to boil as he got out two mugs, sugar, milk and two tea bags.

Back at the table they sat in silence, almost half asleep waiting for the washing to be finished as they slowly drunk their teas, trying to think but finding that their brains were on the edge of shutting down, they were far too tired to do anything. Ron kept his eyes on the watch watching the seconds tick by, hoping that Hermione wouldn’t be back in the Manor in her dreams while he waited downstairs with George. It was dreadful that the one area of her life she couldn’t control was the one of thing that she most needed to be able to control. In the waking world she could do anything, everything, but when she was asleep she couldn’t escape it and she definitely couldn’t control it, not yet anyway.

“It’s done!” Ron exclaimed jumping out of his chair as he heard a quiet beeping sound which meant that he could go to bed soon. He was exhausted beyond belief, his legs were heavy and his back ached but he forgot that for a few seconds, and immediately regretted his jump as he landed on his feet in pain.

“You sure?” George asked raising his head off the table and looking at Ron with a doubtful expression.

“Course I’m sure.” Ron replied almost running to the washing, grabbing it and dumping into the basket before hitting George on the shoulder as he walked past him towards the door. George stood up slowly, still on the verge of sleep wishing they had got back an hour or two ago so he could be fast asleep by now. It was almost dawn, and he hadn’t been to sleep for far too long. Screw consciousness he thought as he started hanging up the clothes alongside Ron.

Side by side, they stood shivering, wishing they had brought their wands and also wishing that the sun was up to warm them, but glad it wasn’t so that they had a little bit more sleep available to them. As George placed a peg on his shirt, the last item in the basket he grinned over at Ron.

“See you in the well, night.” George said turning away, then with a sudden burst of energy he ran into the house, up to his room. Ron sighed, the one downside of not having a room to himself meant that he couldn’t apparate in without fear of waking Hermione or even Harry up, tonight it was only Hermione he was worried about waking. Not that he had his wand with him so he couldn’t apparate anyway. Hermione looked so beautiful as per usual, but she looked so peaceful when he had retrieved clean clothes, he knew that then she was having good dreams.

Turning back to the house he walked slowly, his legs moving on their own, his brain half-asleep. He was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom before he had even realised he had entered the house let alone locked the door behind him, placed the washing basket back where he found it and walked up the stairs. Quickly brushing his teeth he examined his face as he did so, fingering his new cuts hoping that they wouldn’t be too noticeable and that this Muggle sport would be a good excuse. The memory of Kreacher in the kitchen was almost gone.

**...**

“You’re late.” Hermione mumbled as Ron was on the verge on sleep. The bedroom door was shut, his shoes pushed under the bed, as he dragged his feet across the floor as he walked towards the bed. He had moved Hermione over to make space for himself, in her sleep she had spread her body across the bed. Kissing her softly on the cheek before he wrapped his arm around her pulling her close must have woken her up.

“I’m sorry.” Ron mumbled back, his eyes still shut hoping that they could avoid a conversation right now, he just wanted to sleep peacefully with Hermione in his arms, he was just so tired.

“Where were you?” Hermione asked as she wrapped her fingers around Ron’s and pulled his arm more tightly around her as she shuffled back another inch to have her whole body pushed up against Ron, fitting together like perfect puzzle pieces. As if they were made for each other.

“Looking after George.” Ron replied. His breath warm against Hermione’s neck, she could smell the mint on his breath and tried to ignore the thought that he had something to hide. His legs were cold against her, his skin was soft against her, she wondered what he was trying to wash away.

“Oh.” Hermione breathed, now she couldn’t be mad. George needed Ron, she couldn’t be selfish, even though she wanted to be.

“What did you do?” Ron mumbled, every cell in his body wanting him to fall asleep but he missed the sound of Hermione’s voice, the way she talked, the way she felt and he wanted to drink her in before he slept.

“I went shopping with Ginny.” Hermione replied, too tired to turn around and kiss Ron but wanting to desperately.

“Uh-huh.” Ron mumbled, on the edge of sleep. Hermione shut her eyes and squeezed Ron’s hand softly as she listened to the steady rhythm of Ron’s breath that lulled her to sleep in seconds.


	16. Confusion

“Morning.” Hermione whispered as she wrapped her arm around Ron looking up at him as he opened his eyes and smiled down at her. It was morning now, he was no longer tired, he could spend the whole day with Hermione. Although he would have to tell her about yesterday, well at least about his decision.

“How did you sleep?” Ron asked kissing her lightly on the lips as she formed her answer. Something about her lips felt different, something about the room felt different but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Better once you were here.” Hermione replied as she rested her head back down on Ron’s chest. Covering her mouth with her hand, she coughed.

Hermione sat up and leant forward as she kept coughing, with Ron watching her with a nervous expression on his face. She didn’t look sick but her cough didn’t sound good.

“You okay?” Ron asked as he sat up slowly, rubbing Hermione’s back as her cough worsened.

“I’m…” Hermione started but as she withdrew her hand from her mouth, she stopped. Ron followed her gaze and saw what she had just noticed, her hand was covered in blood.

“Hermione!” Ron exclaimed jumping out of bed and kneeling in front of her. She didn’t reply, she couldn’t reply, she was having another coughing fit, blood slowly dripping from the corners of her mouth.

“Oh Merlin.” Ron muttered as blood began to run out of Hermione’s nose. He didn’t know what to do, he had no idea what to do. “I’ll get help.” Ron told Hermione as he ran towards the door but stopped dead when he heard a thud coming from upstairs.

Running up the stairs, taking them two stairs at a time he yanked George’s door in front of him as he blew into the room. George was on the floor, surrounded by a puddle of his own blood, he wasn’t moving. Ron opened his mouth to yell when he heard Ginny screaming from downstairs.

Running down the stairs he wiped his thumb across his upper lip absentmindedly. Pushing open Ginny’s bedroom door he noticed he had blood on his hand. Pausing for only a second he ran his fingers under his nose again and found he was bleeding too. A thump from inside the room tore his thoughts away from himself.

“Ginny!” Ron screamed as he saw Ginny on the floor in front of the door, lying beside Harry, both in a pool of blood. He couldn’t believe what was happening, they couldn’t all be dying, this couldn’t be happening.

“Mum!” Ron screamed as he ran out of Ginny’s room leaving Harry and Ginny lying still side by side, not a drop of life left in either of them. Running into the kitchen he found Molly lying on the floor still moving.

“Ron..” Molly muttered weakly as her head dropped to the floor again, the effort of muttering that one word seemed to have pushed her over the edge. They were all dead. They couldn’t be all dead, this was impossible, this couldn’t be happening.

Leaving his mother in the kitchen he ran up the stairs, out of breath from all of this running and spitting out mouthfuls of blood every few steps. He could feel blood slowly dripping out of his ears now, but he didn’t care he was running towards Hermione, hoping that she wasn’t dead like the rest of them.

Yanking open his bedroom door he stepped inside and looked over to the bed, to where he had left Hermione. She wasn’t there, his bed wasn’t there. There was a massive gap where his bed was, there wasn’t any wall there and the scratched wood wasn’t there either. A giant chasm was the only thing to be seen on that side of the room, spilling cold air into the room. The door slammed shut behind him and he turned quickly to see the door he had stepped through had vanished. Around him were red bricks, the only thing left in his bedroom Harry’s bed and the dresser.

Taking a step back he grabbed onto the dresser, feeling the floor shake beneath him. What was happening couldn’t be real he told himself, this wasn’t possible. His family weren’t dead none of this was true, this could not be reality.

The room titled and Ron tightened his grip on the dresser as a pair of socks slid across the floor into the chasm, which were quickly followed by the bed. Ron watched as it slid across the room. Not daring to loosen his grip on the dresser he kept his eyes on it. His grip was slipping as the room moved again, his feet were no longer touching the ground but swinging precariously above the chasm.

Straining his neck he watched the bed fall into the chasm. Keeping his eyes open as the wind howled out of the chasm and cooled the room he counted.

One. The room was still shaking, but it didn’t seem to continue to tip, the dresser was securely stuck to the ground for some unknown reason, none of this made any sense.

Two. Ice was forming on the window now, the wind was biting at his hands and feet, there was still no clunk as the bed hit the bottom of the chasm.

Three. Ron strained his ears trying to hear the bed hit the bottom, but it was useless. Blood was still running from his nose and out of his ears and the wind was howling around him.

Four. The room began shaking harder and the temperature of the room dropped again. Ron tightened his grip on the dresser.

Five. There was nothing that he could do to make it stop and there was no way out he knew that.

Six. The shaking intensified as the walls around him began to crumble, and through his squinted eyes he could make out the walls coming towards him.

Seven. All light in the room was extinguished and the room was submerged in darkness.

Eight. The walls closed around him and the dresser disappeared.

Nine. Ron’s hands were now tightly hanging onto metal bars. Without turning around he knew where he was.

He stopped counting, it was over, he was out of that horrible place but he was somewhere else even worse. Sure it was far smaller cellar and he was now alone in it. But he knew this cellar, the damp air and the concrete walls gave it away.

If that wasn’t enough of a hint it started, telling Ron exactly where he was, the sound that he could never get out of his head no matter how hard he tried. The sound that made him want to rip out his insides in an attempt to make it stop, he would have done anything to make it stop.

Hermione’s screams travelled down the staircase to where Ron stood in what was now a small concrete cell yelling himself hoarse. This was the first time he had been back. He hadn’t visited this place in his dreams yet. George was right, the others were right.

In reality, Ron tightened his grip on Hermione as they lay together, safe in bed. Hermione was still fast asleep, dreaming of her parents, and what she would say to them. She was oblivious to the terror that was filling Ron’s head. She wasn’t woken when he started muttering, or when his grip tightened again or when his body was covered in sweat and his slightly convulsed behind her.

In his head, Ron was still yelling for Hermione but he was no longer yelling up the staircase into the darkness. His cell was now right in front of Bellatrix and Hermione. Her screams filled his ears like never before, he yelled her name but she was too far gone to acknowledge him.

In his head he kept repeating to himself, she will survive, she will survive. But this dream was different to what happened and to Ron it no longer felt like a dream. The screams felt real, he felt real. The fact that Bellatrix was dead, killed by his own mother hadn’t even entered his mind.

“Should I kill her myself?” Bellatrix asked looking up at Ron, widening her sadistic eyes as she grinned down at Hermione’s lifeless figure.

“Kill me instead.” Ron ordered, with a note of authority that he never spoken with before.

“Oh I will, but…” Bellatrix started before darting her eyes around the room, the room was shaking again and Bellatrix glared over at Ron assuming it was him. Without a second of hesitation, she flicked her wand, a green light flashed and Hermione was dead.

Ron couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t make any other sound except for the strangled sound that his mother often made when she thought no one was listening, the sound that made him want to curl up into a ball and cease to exist. He tried to clear his head but he couldn’t. He was on the floor staring at Hermione, when he remembered that this didn’t happen, this couldn’t happen, it must be a dream. He closed his eyes and pinched himself, hoping that he would wake up from this nightmare.

**...**

Opening his eyes he saw that he was in bed with Hermione by his side, she was safe, she was alive and he was awake. It was dream, that was all. It was over, it was all over. Ron sat up quickly, now fully aware that he was covered in a layer of sweat. Glancing down he saw that Hermione was still fast asleep. Letting a small smile form on his face, he kissed her quickly before grabbing some clothes and shutting the door quietly behind him.


	17. Bickering

In the time between sleeping and waking Hermione felt peaceful, she could feel the light streaming through the open curtain onto her face, and she could a slight breeze, but she was still warm, as she still wrapped in blankets, his scent wrapped around her. Her eyes flittered briefly as she breathed lightly and pushed her head deeper into the pillow, unsure whether she was attempting to block out the sun or because the pillow smelt like Ron. She breathed in again before realising two things, firstly, she couldn’t feel Ron’s arm around her, he must be gone again and secondly, the window was open, he was almost definitely gone. She shifted backwards only slightly, harbouring a small hope that he was still there.

“Morning.” Ron whispered for the second time this morning. She had stirred once already but she wasn’t awake that time, he didn’t want to wake her so he was waiting patiently for her to wake up on her own. She had looked so perfect, her expression relaxed, her hair all over the place and her body snuggled up against him.

“You’re up early!” Hermione replied grinning as she rolled over to find Ron sitting beside her, leaning against the headboard a book in his hand.

“I’ve even showered.” Ron said, as he placed his bookmark into place and shut the book before placing it down on the bedside table.

“And dressed.” Hermione said, glancing over at the time, it wasn’t even 7 o’clock yet, he wasn’t never fully awake at this time let alone showered and dressed. He didn’t look very tired though which was strange considering he wasn’t home when she went to sleep. Maybe he was exhausted thought Hermione, maybe he was just concealing it.

“And breakfasted.” Ron added, kissing Hermione on the forehead as she laid her head on him, breathing in his scent as he wrapped his arms around her.

“And reading.” Hermione said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before she looked up at him, smiling down at her.

“Busy morning.” Ron replied, letting his lips hover of hers for a moment before kissing her. After a few minutes they broke apart, they had both missed each other yesterday but Hermione’s curiosity had finally won, she wanted to know where he was. “I missed you yesterday.” Ron said, watching her with an odd expression.

“I missed you too.” Hermione replied, kissing Ron softly on the lips again before she sat up and rested her head on his shoulder.

“I love you.” Ron said, his eyes still on Hermione, watching for any blood to drip from her, knowing that it was just a dream but still fearing it would become reality. It couldn’t become reality, but bits of it, small parts had happened, so really any of it was possible.

“I love you too.” Hermione kissed Ron again, when she pulled her lips away from his and noticed he was still wearing the odd expression on his face. “Ron are you okay?” Hermione asked, attempting to keep the concern and worry she was filled with out of her tone and her expression.

“I’m f.. yeah.” Ron started intending to say ‘fine’ but after remembering his conversation with George about fine he hastily changed his reply. He gave Hermione a quick smile, attempting to convince her that he was okay.

“Are you sure?” Hermione asked, watching his expression quizzically, trying to figure out what he wasn’t telling her. He loosened his grip on her, which she noticed and he straightened his back looking nervous. Ron didn’t want to tell her about his nightmares, she didn’t need to worry about them on top of everything else in the real world. He could tell George but then George was worried, he didn’t want anyone to worry about him, especially not when they had all this to be worried about.

“Yeah.” Ron answered, avoiding her gaze, he hated lying, especially to Hermione but he couldn’t tell her. He wouldn’t make her worry, she didn’t need to be worried about him, no one needed to be worried about him, he wasn’t even worried, he was far too worried about everyone else to be concerned with himself.

“You’d tell me if you weren’t okay?” Hermione asked, watching Ron with concern. He kept his gaze fixed to the sheets so she added quickly, “You’d tell someone right?”

“I’d tell someone.” Ron replied not able to look at her, not able to lie anymore. He couldn’t lie to her but he couldn’t tell her the truth. What could he say? He couldn’t tell her about his nightmares, because he knew there was no way to stop them, and she couldn’t help with the other stuff, no one could, and if they could, they should be helping George first.

“But not me?” Hermione looked hurt now, hurt and pissed. Kicking the sheets off them, she watched Ron waiting for an answer, unsure whether she should be worried among other emotions that she was currently feeling.

“Herm..” Ron started, shifting his gaze to look at her, seeing the hurt in her eyes and not being able to remove it made he pause for a second.

“Ron!” Hermione exclaimed, almost glaring at him now. Her expression was hard, but it was still full of concern, it was clear that she was worried and Ron didn’t want her to be.

“I don…” Ron muttered, not entirely sure where he was going but knowing that she was going to cut him short anyway. This was in no way their first fight, but this was one fight he didn’t want to have, he didn’t want to think about, let alone discuss and he wanted even less to yell about it. But that was the direction this was heading in, he knew it and he couldn’t stop it.

“Where were you yesterday?” Hermione asked, speaking over him just as Ron knew she would. Ron swung his legs over the bed and stared at the ground for a second before answering.

“I told you I was with George.” Ron answered, keeping his eyes to the ground not able to look at Hermione.

“Where do you go at night?” Hermione asked as she stood up and stared down at Ron, wanting an answer, wanting the truth. She was worried about him, she needed to know what he wasn’t telling her, what he probably wasn’t telling anyone. Why were Harry and Ron like this, thinking it was better to just close up, Ron more so than Harry which was infuriating her, she wanted, no she needed him to tell her.

“To get a drink.” Ron replied his blue eyes meeting Hermione’s gaze, his face blank, there was no give, which always made Hermione furious, she knew he was lying now.

“Ron I’m not stupid!” Hermione exclaimed, as she turned away from Ron and began pacing up and down the room not able to look at him but not able to keep her eyes away from him. they strayed to him every few seconds and she cursed herself for not been able to glare at him when their eyes met, if anything her expression softened more.

“I kn…” Ron started. He knew he had to tell Hermione the truth but he didn’t know how he was going to tell her, how much he had to tell her. He wouldn’t mention George, which meant he wouldn’t really be able her the truth, just enough to satisfy her. But she would know he was leaving bits out and that would make her even madder.

“Don’t lie to me Ron!” Hermione exclaimed, stopping her pacing to stare at Ron who sat still on the edge of the bed nervously wringing his hands. Above them, they could hear movement, Hermione had probably woken someone up, and as this fight escalated, they would no doubt wake the entire house up.

“Herm…” Ron started not knowing what to say, but wanting to say something to cease her worrying, without getting annoyed himself, and he knew that that wouldn’t last much longer.

“Ron! You..” Hermione exclaimed, she was standing still watching him.

“Look none of us are fine. What we went through, what we are going through, none of that is ever going to go away. None of that is going to cease to exist. It will follow us around for the rest of our lives. Why can’t I just stow my crap and deal with it later. We all…” Ron yelled at her. She took a step back as he stood up and began pacing the room himself, while she just stood there watching him.

“That doesn’t work!” Hermione yelled at him cutting him off. She wasn’t able to be mad anymore, she yelled without conviction because truthfully she had no idea what really would work, she just knew that he wasn’t dealing with it right.

“Why can’t it work?” Ron yelled back at her. This was the first fight they had had since they left Hogwarts to come to the Burrow. No one had really fought they were all too busy grieving, and Ron assumed that after this fight many others would break out, not just between Hermione and him, but everyone else would start bickering too. The thought of that made him want to stop, but he knew he couldn’t, he just couldn’t.

“Ron it doesn’t work that way, you have to deal with it!” Hermione exclaimed. She was desperate to convince him to talk to her about it all. She wanted to help him, just as he had helped her, but he was making it impossible through his own stubbornness.

“How? Hermione how can I deal with it? I can’t deal with this! Not all of this not all at once! I am barely coping day to day, we all are! There is too much to deal with. There is no quick solution to this, there is no standard way to deal with this, we deal the best we can Hermione. We are all doing the best we can. There is no answer to this to be found in the pages of a book however much you want there to be.” Ron yelled.

He was no longer pacing, he stood by the door, a metre of so away from Hermione. Her eyes weren’t piercing they were soft now, but his were cold as ice. He knew that the whole house could hear him, he knew that they were all awake but he didn’t care. He couldn’t stop, once he started he couldn’t stop.

“Ro..” Hermione muttered, tears streaming down her face as she took a small step towards him. She had no idea what to say, there was nothing she could say to make this better. She knew that, but she wished, oh she wished there was something, anything.

“Every single second I am surrounded by daily reminders of everything I lost, everything **we** lost. I look up at the moon and think of Remus and Tonks. I skip the stair that creaks on the staircase without even thinking, and then I pause just for a second and I can almost see Fred in front of me teaching me how to sneak around the house. Whenever I see George I think of Fred, whenever I see a bloody door handle I think of Fred and remember something connected, however insignificantly with that door handle with Fred and I feel sick.” Ron yelled.

He could hear creaking around them, he knew that everyone was listening and he knew that Hermione was slowly walking towards him and he took a step back from her.

“Ro..” Hermione whispered, she ignored Ron backing away from her and continued walking slowly towards him, knowing that he couldn’t even hear her, his head was so full and he needed to get this out. What he was saying was only the tip of the iceberg but she was glad he was finally talking, or at least yelling about it.

“We are not bloody okay! Everywhere I look I see him Hermione and I know George does too, we all do. We can’t escape the memories, we can’t forget the people we lost, they died Hermione! They all died. Fred is gone, Fred is dea…” Ron screamed, his voice falling flat as he was overcome with tears, he couldn’t say it, he wasn’t able to say it, he simply couldn’t.

Choking with tears, he felt Hermione tighten her grip, he hadn’t even noticed her wrapping her arms around him. He could hear murmuring from outside the door, he knew that they were all listening to their conversation.

“Oh Ron.” Hermione murmured into his chest and she tightened her grip on him again, keeping her face pressed against him as he rested his chin on top of her bushy hair, and he wrapping his arms around her, holding her close. Wishing that his whole family didn’t have to hear them shouting at each other, that they didn’t hear what he said. But he knew that it needed to be said, even if they would all be fighting and bickering over the next few days, at least they would finally be talking about what they had been trying to ignore since Fred’s funeral.

Outside the bedroom door George, Harry and Ginny all stood huddled together. They knew that Molly had heard every word from the strangled crying coming from the kitchen, which was only audible now that Ron’s yelling and ceased and they all stood in silence.

“He’s right you…” Ginny started turning to face George. She couldn’t stand there in silence any longer, she had to cover the sound of Molly’s cries and get all of the words spinning around in her head out.

“Of course he bloody is.” George said bluntly cutting Ginny off. Everything that Ron had said he had agreed with, everything was true and there was no way to feel better, not yet perhaps not ever. They just had to handle day by the day that was the best they could do.

“Geo..” Ginny started taking a step towards George who took a step away from her, slowly heading up the staircase back to his room.

“What?” George asked as he turned his back to Ginny and kept making his way up the staircase, he didn’t want to talk about what Ron had yelled, he didn’t want to be around anyone right now.

“You can’t spend your day in solitude again.” Ginny spoke quietly but her voice was calm and clear, she needed George to hear her and to really listen. Nobody was listening to anyone right now, they needed each other, that was all they had. But nobody was listening and nobody was coping in the ways that she thought they should. Her nightmares had stopped as had Hermione’s but there was more damage than that, and it wasn’t just them.

Ginny hated that she couldn’t make it better, there was nothing that she could get. Just like Ron had yelled, there was no book that Hermione could read to get answers, Ginny couldn’t boss it out of them nor could she yell it out of them. There was nothing to be done and she felt powerless, she hated that. When they were at war everything was different, but there was a calm now, a calm that washed over them but they didn’t feel it because they couldn’t feel it, they wouldn’t be able to feel the calm for quite some time.

“Again? I spent yesterday with Ron.” George replied turning around to stare down at Ginny who seemed to tower above him even though she was a few steps down.

“And look how he..” Ginny started walking slowly up the stairs towards George leaving Harry where he stood silently staring up at them both, wondering what to say, wishing there was a magical solution.

“What is that supposed to mean?” George said his expression turned to ice, he was only rarely like this before, but they had all changed.

“You need to…” Ginny started again ignoring George glaring down at her with a coldness that he had never expressed towards his sister before.

“I don’t need to do anything Ginny.” George cut across Ginny as he turned again and strode up the staircase taking the steps two at a time. He had to get away from her, from them all. They wondered why he spent all his time alone, this was why, this was precisely the reason. He hated been told what to do especially in these circumstances and especially by his younger siblings who he was supposed to be taking care of, not the other way round.

“Geo..” Ginny called out taking a step toward him. She didn’t want it to go this way, she just wanted George to agree with her, she just wanted it all to be better.

“Ginny, let him go.” Harry’s voice came from behind her, quiet but firm. Taking hold of her hand, he gently pulled her back to him, stopping her from running after George and saying what she would regret later.

“Harry he needs to…” Ginny moaned, turning to face Harry as she widened her big brown eyes and he wrapped his arms around her cutting her short. They all needed each other, they were family now more than ever and Ginny was so thankful she had Harry now. She had him and her brothers and Hermione, and boy did she need them, all of them.

“I know.” Harry muttered into her hair as she closed her eyes and he tightened his grip. She began mumbling into his shirt that was already wet with her tears and Harry kept muttering, “I know” wishing that that hug would make everything okay, that it would make everything better.

For a few seconds Ginny was content standing outside Ron’s bedroom door with Harry’s arm wrapped around her, she let him attempt to soothe her while she formulated a plan in her head.

“I’ll just be a moment.” Ginny said as she pulled away from Harry, grinned at his confused expression and then ran up the stairs as he groaned behind her and headed down to the kitchen. Harry knew that Ginny did exactly what she wanted and he was hungry, so he would do exactly what he wanted, and let her argue if that was what she needed to do right now.

Ginny pushed the door open in front of her to reveal an empty room, glancing around the room she knew exactly where he was. Running back downstairs she burst into the bathroom to discover George brushing his teeth in front of the mirror. He groaned when he turned to see Ginny standing in the door way her hands on her hips glaring at him.

“Gin..” George started, his mouth full of toothpaste and a scowl growing on his face.

“Look the way I see it you can’t focus on the bad.” Ginny said over George, she didn’t want him to argue with her just yet. She knew he would later but for now she just wanted to speak, unrivalled.

“I can’t...” George began with a mischievous smile growing on his face.

“You have to focus on the good.” Ginny cut George off, not wanting him to lighten the mood with his wit, she had to say what she had to say and he had to listen.

“That is re…” George answered pausing for a second to spit into the sink.

“There is plenty of good for you to focus on. Good is when you see Ron’s face light up just before he laughs. Good is when you hear Mum humming while she cooks. Good is hearing Dad chatter about Muggle escalators, amazed by the invention. Good is when you hear Hermione sigh when someone says something she disagrees with. Good is the way Harry screws up his face a certain way when he isn’t really listening. Good is getting to see my beautiful face every day.  Good is everywhere George, you just have to want to see it.” Ginny said taking small steps toward George as she spoke, who kept cleaning his teeth but his expression softened and he didn’t back away from her. Which Ginny took as a good sign.

“They are go..” George started as he rinsed his brush with water and put it back in its holder with the others. It made a small popping sound when it went into place, thanks to George and Fred’s antics you could only get your own toothbrush out due to a spell that Molly had put on the toothbrush holder in frustration. Even that small sound painfully reminded him of Fred.

“George. Look, I’m not saying that this is easy, for any of us but we shouldn’t make this harder than it is. We all need each other, we don’t need space, we need each other. You separating yourself from us is bloody stupid.” Ginny yelled, her voice slightly choked as she wiped tears from her cheeks, she didn’t intend to cry, she didn’t realise she was even doing it. She hated crying, but that didn’t mean she could stop it, especially not lately.

“Ginn…” George started, his voice quiet and soft.

“Just because you are older doesn’t mean you have to be so bloody pig headed like Percy. Just because you think that your way will work doesn’t make you right, you’re just an idiot.” Ginny shouted at him, she was so frustrated with everything and yelling at George seemed like the obvious solution right now.

“Would you stop yelling at me!” George exclaimed but to no avail. George’s words were lost on Ginny who was now completely ignoring him.

“Sure we have a whole load of shit on us right now but there is no way that makes this better by shutting ourselves off, you can’t...” Ginny yelled in a quieter tone now but she wasn’t speaking at her normal volume.

“Merlin! Just shut up would you.” George yelled as he placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her slightly. She hadn’t noticed him wiping his mouth with the flannel or walking towards him, she was only aware of how close he was now.

“But..” Ginny started, forgetting the rest of her speech as George stared down at her, looking sad again. She hadn’t wanted to see that expression on his face ever, but she saw it almost every day now and she hated to be the one who put it on his face today.

“If I say I agree will you stop talking?” George said, a smile itching at the corners of his mouth.

“I guess.” Ginny replied, staring blankly at George, as his eyes flicked from staring into hers and then behind her.

“Then I agree.” George grinned at her before he wrapped his arms around her and added, “Get in here little bro.”

“Bro?” Ginny muttered as she raised her eyebrow, not understanding what George meant at all. Then a hand rested on her shoulder and she realised, Ron had stood by the door listening in, no wonder George had his eyes glued to the door behind her near the end. “Thank Merlin I don’t have to repeat my speech then.” Ginny added after a moment of silence.

“There is a God.” Ron muttered as he wrapped his arms around Ginny and George, feeling a little better already. This nightmare had crept into their lives, they couldn’t just wake up for it to end and they had to accept that.


	18. Mud

Harry sat alone in the kitchen eating breakfast listening to the world outside. The radio was on low, as the birds chirped and the wind breezed through the trees. He sat hunched over his bowl with the Daily Prophet, more deaths were been discovered every day. Some deaths recent and some old, some names he recognised and some he didn’t. The past few days he hadn’t personally known any of the dead that were announced, and he was hoping today would be the same. Flipping straight to the obituaries he scooped cereal into his mouth, blocking out of the yelling coming down the staircase and focussing on the words in front of him and the radio and nature outside the window.

Just as the last few days, there was no one he knew. Sighing in relief he flicked to the front page and read through the paper, not noticing that the yelling had ceased until he folded the paper and placed it in the centre of the table and washed his bowl. Standing by the sink with a cup of tea in his hand he wondered when the bickering had finished.

“Morning.” Hermione said as she walked into the room, pulling her hair into a bun as she made her way towards the table.

“Nothing like yelling to start the day huh?” Harry replied smiling at Hermione as she collapsed into a chair flicked her wand, sending a bowl, spoon, the box of cereal and the bottle of milk towards her.

“It was just a matter of time.” Hermione said as she filled her bowl with cereal and milk simultaneously while leaning back in her chair as she lazily flicked her wand.

“When did they stop?” Harry asked as he sat down in a seat opposite her. He put his feet up on the chair beside him and laid back, his tea in his hand.

“Not sure, they were finished by the time I got out of the shower a few minutes ago.” Hermione replied. After Ron had finished, they heard fighting from out in the hallway. They stood in silence before Ron couldn’t take it anymore and ran upstairs only a few seconds behind Ginny. Hermione had left them to it and apparated to the shower.

Harry flicked his wand and turned the radio up slightly, a song he quite liked had started and Ginny wasn’t here to mock his music taste so he closed his eyes and listened, humming along while Hermione unfolded the Daily Prophet and read as she ate her cereal. Skipping to the obituaries first like Harry; they all did that now, it was their default, she scanned the page. Maybe with time that would change but Hermione somehow doubted it.

**...**

“You doing okay?” Harry asked after he had turned the volume on the radio back down and turned to face Hermione who was by the sink cleaning her bowl, the paper folded on the table.

“I guess, I’m just…” Hermione started, then turned to face the window and yelled, “Mail!”

“What?” Harry asked looking confused and stared at Hermione whose eyes were glued to the window.

“Shut up, look.” Hermione scowled at Harry for a second before she pointed out the window, where four owls were flying towards them at a fast pace. Harry picked his wand up from the table beside him and opened the window with a flick. Within seconds, the owls were skidding across the table as they tried to slow down.

Harry and Hermione took the letters off the owls, who flew off out the window as soon as the letters were no longer attached to their legs.

“Any?” Harry asked Hermione as he checked the front of each envelope looking for any letter sent to them.

“Nope, all for Molly.” Hermione answered sounded disappointed. She didn’t really know what she was expecting, she hadn’t gotten any mail here. When they first came back they got a dozen owls every few hours sending food from well wishers, but after Molly exploded a casserole, Arthur had made sure that all mail was sent through work first and also letting everyone know that the food and cards and letters of condolences were clearly unwanted.

Slumping back down into their chairs, they stared out of the window with their cups of teas in their hands as they stifled yawns. The house was quiet, which was odd. Molly wasn’t in the kitchen and no shower was running so she had left during the yelling, and was probably out at the market, which relieved Hermione. She was hoping that Molly hadn’t heard Ron’s yelling or Ginny’s or George’s, but Molly had heard Ron and had left just afterwards.

“It’s the Hogwarts Crest.” Harry muttered as he glanced at the letters again, “It’s the crest!” he repeated, a smile growing on his face then quickly fading. He had so many brilliant memories of that place, the happiest memories but now they were tainted with the war, with the blood and the screaming and the tears, and all of the death. Taking another sip of tea he blocked that all out.

“I wonder what it’s about…” Hermione said, her eyes glazing over as Harry could practically hear her brain thinking next to him. Absentmindedly tracing her finger around the lip of her mug she stared out of the window, imaging going back to Hogwarts, imagining their future.

“Do you hear that?” Harry asked Hermione as he straightened his back and turned to look at the stairs. Hermione tore her gaze away from the window to look at him, her far off look extinguished as she strained her ears.

“Hear what?” Hermione replied, her eyes scanning the room, she couldn’t hear anything.

“Exactly. Don’t you think it’s a bit quiet?” Harry said, before taking another sip of his tea and sighing.  At least they weren’t yelling again, but the lack of noise probably meant they weren’t even in the house anymore which was not what he was hoping for.

“Well they probably haven’t killed each other.” Hermione replied a smirk tugging at her lips as she looked up the staircase, wondering what they were doing or at least where they were doing it.

“They probably just went out.” Harry said, his face falling. “Again.” He muttered as he lifted his mug to his lips.

“Hey you were with Ginny most of yesterday.” Hermione snapped. She wished that they could spend more time together, all five of them. Laughing and talking and just being together.

“I miss him too you know.” Harry said as he stood up, picked Hermione’s empty mug off the table and placed it, along with his in the sink. They had all been so busy with everything they hadn’t spent a huge amount of time together lately and he hated that.

“I know, I just…” Hermione started but paused when she heard chatting from outside. A grin spread over her face as laughter erupted, first it was Ginny then George and quickly followed by Ron. They were back, and they were cheerful.

The laughter got louder as they approached the back door, and Hermione rose from her seat and both her and Harry walked slowly towards the door before stopping and resting against the table. The door swung open to reveal George and Ron holding two brown bags each and Ginny walking alongside them with her bag slung across her shoulder, all wearing matching smiles.

“You’re back!” Harry exclaimed as Ginny quickened her pace. Stopping right in front of him she wrapped her fingers around his neck and kissed him hello.

“Thought we would have a bit of Quidditch, and then perhaps a picnic?” George said as both him and Ron placed their bags on the kitchen table. George flicked his wand and sent a picnic basket towards him as he emptied the brown bags.

Ron didn’t say anything and slowly walked towards Hermione, a small smile growing on his face as he approached her. Wrapping his arms around her he pulled her towards him as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his chest as he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

“I love you.”  Ron whispered into her hair.

“I love you too.” Hermione whispered back as she titled her head and smiled up at him. He lowered his arms as she wrapped her fingers around his neck and kissed him. His hands rested on the small of her back as he kissed her back, wishing that he could spend all of his time kissing her. Wishing that they hadn’t wasted so many years not kissing, and glad that they had finally gotten around to it. Ignoring Ginny clearing her throat behind them, their kiss deepened as Hermione’s tongue explored his mouth and he kissed her more hungrily.

“Get a room.” George joked as he flicked his wand, forming five sandwiches simultaneously. His words managed to separate Ron and Hermione’s lips as they smiled at each other, ignoring Harry laughing as he packed the Butterbeers and Ginny smirking at them as she washed apples.

“Gladly.” Hermione shot back as she kissed Ron again, quickly this time before she took his hand in hers and took a step towards the door.

“We’ll just grab the broomsticks and stuff, leave the experts to making our no doubt lovely picnic.” Ron said as Hermione pulled him out of the kitchen.

As the door shut behind them Hermione pulled Ron towards her, and he pushed her up against the wall. Her hands ran through his hair as their lips met, her grip tightened as he kissed her, his hands roaming her body and her tongue entering his mouth.

“I can still see you!” George shouted for the kitchen, attempting and failing to conceal the laughter in his voice.

Ron sighed, his lips now hovering above Hermione’s as they regulated their breathing, their bodies still pushed up against each other. Both of their gazes fell due Ron realising that his hand was underneath Hermione’s shirt and Hermione realising that his hand was there. Ron blushed as he removed his hand quickly, moving to let it fall to his side when Hermione grabbed it. Looking into his bright blue eyes, she smiled as she placed his hand back and leant forward only slightly to kiss him again. She didn’t care that George could see them, she didn’t care that Molly could come home any moment and see them, she just wanted his lips on hers, and his hands to roam her body as hers to explore his. She kissed him quickly before their lips separated and they moved away from the wall, off to get the Quidditch gear.

**...**

Mud smeared over their clothes and faces, their hair wild and tangled, their tired arms still catching and throwing, their bodies exhaustion ignored as they played on. Hermione’s stomach had been rumbling for over an hour now, but the others showed no signs of stopping. She was the worst, she knew that, but it didn’t matter, it was fun and that was the point. Of course Ginny wanted to win, and was dead set on beating Harry but the rest of them didn’t mind, they all cheered when anyone made a save or scored a goal. The weather was beautiful, and smiles covered the faces around her, she couldn’t ask for a better day. The wind whipped through Hermione’s hair as she speed towards the goals, she stopped abruptly as she threw her hands up into the air and cheered, Ginny had scored again.

“Let’s eat!” Hermione yelled as the cheering ceased. She knew that she only had a few second window and she knew that one mentioned the boys wouldn’t be able to resist food, none of them had eating in hours and it was well past lunch. George and Ginny exchanged a nod before gliding towards the ground, they both unmounted their broomsticks gracefully, just did Ron and Harry.

Harry, Ginny and George rushed towards the picnic basket, pulling out their wands to place the blanket on a dry patch of ground and arrange the food. Ron however made his way towards where Hermione was landing, taking hold of her lower back when she neared the ground, he supported her as she climbed off and then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly. Opening her mouth to say something she paused when she heard Ron’s stomach rumble, causing them both the laugh.

“I’m starving!”  Ron said, kissing Hermione quickly before draping his arm over her shoulder as they made their way over to Ginny, George and Harry, knowing that if they didn’t move fast all of the food would be gone.

“Whats the time?” Ginny asked as Ron and Hermione sat down. Despite Harry and Ginny’s competition while up in the air she was now sitting in between his legs and leaning against him as she bit into her sandwich, one hand placed on the ground behind him as he held his sandwich with his other hand. George lay across the blanket on his side, one arm supporting him and the other holding his bottle of Butterbeer.

“Almost 2:30.” George replied after glancing down at his watch, his eyes widened slightly when he saw the time, he had been hungry for a few hours but he didn’t realise it was quite this late, it was amazing how time still managed to fly after everything.

“Bloody hell no wonder I’m starving!” Ron exclaimed as his grab a sandwich and took a large bite out of it. Hermione grabbed a Butterbeer and a sandwich and leant against Ron as she took a sip.

All five of them seemed to forget that there was a world beyond the field they were sitting in as they stuffed their faces with sandwiches and apples and refilled their bottles of Butterbeer when they only had a few mouthfuls left in them. At first they ate in silence, too hungry and focused on the food to say anything, but then slowly they began to speak, laughing and joking, discussing the game and trying to determine what time they should finish, with only 5 people they hadn’t brought the snitch, so they had no way to really determine when the game should end.

“Halfway through I’d say.” Ginny said as she placed her Butterbeer on the ground and took a bite out of an apple. Ron, Hermione and Harry were on one team and Ginny and George were on the other. Currently Ginny and George were losing, but only by about 40 points, and she wanted a few hours to put them well ahead.

“Halfway! It’s been hours!” Hermione exclaimed, she was already exhausted she wasn’t sure she could take another few hours.

“We haven’t e…” Ginny begun but trailed off as her eyes focussed on a spot growing bigger, “Is that Pig?” she asked, as she pointed towards were the tiny brown blob made its way through the trees towards them.

“I think so.” Hermione replied as she leant forward and squinted between the trees. Wondering what on earth Pig was carrying, Ron grabbed two sandwiches and passed one to George looking into the trees as well.

“He isn’t moving very fast.” Harry commented as he chucked his apple core into the distance.

“Does he ever?” Ron replied with a smile. They could all see it was Pig now, he was slowly getting closer, his wings flapping as fast as they could but due to their size not increasing his speed by much. Instead of hovering in front of one of them while they untied the letter from Pig’s leg, Pig seemed to try his luck with landing. He skidded across the blanket, knocking two Butterbeer bottles over and landing beak first into the empty picnic basket.

“Wonder what it says.” Ginny said as Ron leant forward , gently pulled Pig out of the picnic basket and untied the letter from his leg, there was no envelope it was just a folded piece of paper no doubt a note from home. Everyone moved closer to Ron as he unfolded the letter to reveal Molly’s handwriting.

_Minerva will be here at 3.30 to discuss your education, whether or not you will be returning to Hogwarts in September. I expect you to be clean and presentable by the time she gets here._

_-Molly._

George and Ron looked up from the letter and exchanged a glance, the truth would come out in a matter of hours. Ginny groaned, Harry sighed and Hermione looked flustered as she reread the note again and then gasped.

“3.30!” Hermione exclaimed as she looked desperately at George, oblivious to the gaze he was sharing with Ron, she wanted to know the time.

“It’s just past 3 now.” George replied as he finished his Butterbeer and jumped up. The others stood up around him and Ginny and Harry rushed off to get their broomsticks and the rest of their equipment while George and Hermione packed up their picnic with a few waves of their wands.

“Go home.” Ron instructed Pig as he fed him a corner of his sandwich before stroking is head fondly and pushing him off towards the sky, it wouldn’t be a great idea to apparate with him, but Pig wasn’t exactly the fastest flier, Molly had probably sent the note a while ago.

“Meet you back home!” Ginny yelled as she waved and then disappeared, leaving Harry to pick up the last broomstick.  Ron turned to say something to George but he disapparated with a crack. Turning back to Hermione he picked the packed picnic basket up and smiled at her before disapparating.

Quickly unpacking the picnic basket with a flick of his wand once he burst through the kitchen door, Ron raced up the stairs towards his bedroom to grab a change of clothes, hoping not to have to wait for shower. As he climbed the stairs, taking them two at a time he could hear one shower turning on above him. Pushing open his bedroom door he riffled through his drawers, pulling out a shirt and a pair of boxers before grabbing a pair of shorts from the cupboard. Apparating to outside of the other bathroom door he knocked once and gained no reply, pushing open the door he found it empty. Dropping his clothes on the chair he turned on the shower and locked the door.

Downstairs in Ginny’s room Hermione sighed, both showers were occupied. A clean change of clothes lay on the end of her bed as she untied her hair and brushed it out. As she stared out of the window, quickly French plaiting her hair all she could think about was going back to Hogwarts, how she would feel walking those halls while the horrors still haunted them. Thinking how relaxing it will be, no dark plot against Harry’s life, where they could just focus on the work and Hermione could sit in Ron’s arms in the comfy chair by the fire, as they complained about their teachers or their work loads. She didn’t have to enviously watch Ron kissing Lavender or constantly worry about Harry been killed by Snape, she would be able to focus on her newts.

At 3.20 Hermione could still hear both showers going, Ginny was already dressed and downstairs helping Molly in the kitchen, and someone else was out, she heard them making their way downstairs while Ginny was pulling her hair into a pony tail and Hermione was finishing her chapter. She didn’t care who was in what shower, she just wanted them to get out. Closing her book she grabbed her pile of clothes and ran out of the door and up the stairs to the closest shower, banging on the bathroom door once she reached it.

“What?” Harry yelled back, his voice was muffled by the sound of the shower.

“It’s 3.21!” Hermione shouted through the door, she was carefully not to dirty her clean clothes as she held them,  Professor McGonagall would be here in 9 minutes and she wasn’t showered or changed or ready.

“And?” Harry replied, he had already washed his hair and was just standing in the shower letting the warm water run down him as he thought about what he would do with his future, and how he would bring it up to the others.

“I haven’t showered yet!” Hermione yelled back as she knocked on the door again. Downstairs in the kitchen Ginny and Ron were laughing at Hermione and Harry’s exchange upstairs.

“Oh.” Harry replied. Taking a mouthful of water he spit it down the drain and ran his fingers through his hair.

“GET OUT!” Hermione shouted as she banged on the door again. This time she could hear Ginny and Ron’s laughter wafting up the stairs, but chose to ignore it as the shower turned off. Ginny and Ron couldn’t help but notice how much Hermione sounded like Ginny when she was yelling at her brothers to get out of the shower.

“I’m out.” Harry said calmly as he opened the door, his change of clothes in his hand, his towel wrapped around his waist and his hair dripping wet.

“About bloody time.” Hermione sighed as she pushed past him and shut the door with a slam. On the other side of the door Harry apparated into his room and dried himself off, grinning at how Hermione hadn’t changed one bit. As he pulled open the cupboard his gaze fell on his Quidditch robes that they had retrieved from 4 Privet Drive, and he felt a tug towards his home, his first home, Hogwarts. Could he ever go back after what he had seen there?


	19. Revelations

With a cup of tea in one hand Minerva’s eyes wandered to the staircase, to where the yelling from upstairs was travelling down, evidently they were not all informed about each other’s plans for next year. She could hear Ginny’s voice above them all, not surprisingly so, she was rather outspoken, one of the reasons Ginny was one of her favourites, not that she was supposed to have favourites, but teachers always did, how could they not. She had a soft spot for those five, upstairs yelling, yelling because they cared, which was the most important thing after everything, they still had to care, they couldn’t just let what happened allow them to cut themselves off from the rest of the world. And judging by the sheer volume, they cared a lot.

Minerva had arrived at the Burrow less than 15 minutes ago. Obviously she arrived on time, being the punctual person she was, and had walked towards the Burrow along with Molly who had been waiting for her to arrive. As they walked through the front door and into the lounge she saw all five of them sitting upright in chairs, their hair still slightly wet, all dressed in a pair of fresh clothes, in various states of nervousness.

 

“I take it there is no chance of you return.” Minerva said to George as she lowered herself onto the edge of the emerald armchair that she didn’t want to sink into.

“No chance Professor.” George replied, smiling over at her. Rising from the couch, he quickly took orders for drinks and left the room, knowing that before the talk turned to education it would first revolve around Hogwarts, and he wasn’t ready to learn about what was happening inside the walls of that castle, not just yet.

“The reparations are mostly complete.” Minerva said as George disappeared around the corner. Ginny and Ron exchanged a look and she could tell that both of them wished to go after George, but they also both knew that they needed to stay.

“The elves seem to be doing well.” Ron remarked as the others sat in silence for a moment, deciding what to say. They all had questions, but for the most part they didn’t really want to have them answered, the answers wouldn’t make them feel any better, it would probably make them feel worse.

“Yes, they are enjoying some form of holiday.” Minerva replied smiling at Ron. Even just by glancing at them all she could tell how drastically they had changed over the year they took off, not surprisingly so after all they had seen or done, but it still amazed her how much they had changed, how different they looked. She still remembered all of her students as nervous 11 year olds sitting underneath the choosing hat.

“Seem? How do you know?” Ginny turned to Ron and asked. Ginny was fed up with not been told things and it was written all over her face, plain for anyone to see.

“Kreacher visited George and I last night, well this morning.” Ron replied after a pause, he looked sheepishly at the ground when he spoke. He would have brought it up but he had forgotten about it until now.

“What?” Harry, Hermione and Ginny said in unison, turning to stare at Ron. Not only shocked at Kreacher’s appearance, but the fact that after spending almost the entire day together Ron hadn’t brought it up.

“Anyway…” Minerva started, wanting to turn the conversation away from the direction it was heading, she had to be off by 5 p.m. she had a meeting at 5.15 p.m. that she could not afford to be late to.

For the next 12 or so minutes, the six of them talked about the castle, only lightly touching on the death eaters recent activities and the bodies that they were discovering day after day, that went unnoticed during the war. Glancing down at her watch she steered the conversation towards the direction of education.

“Tea?” Molly asked as she stood up from her chair, she knew Minerva would soon cue her to leave and George hadn’t made the drinks yet. Minerva nodded and Molly left the room, ignoring the small nods from her children.

“Many of our seventh years are repeating due to the distractions and interruptions in their studies.  The school year was not completed and also not well taught due to the new, staff members that are no longer with us. The war took a toll on everything, education been one of the main ones.” Minerva spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully, they all knew why she was her they all knew so many kids were repeating certain years of school and why some will never have the chance to go to school, mainly because they are now the eldest who must look after the children and also because they are dead.

“Ginny if you wish you can re-sit sixth year but you are more than capable of moving to seventh year.” Minerva said her eyes solely resting on Ginny, she had missed her exams due to everything that had happened but they would be having exams in the beginning of November for those who wished to re-sit the owls that they had missed.

“Seventh year.” Ginny said, she had thought long and hard about this decision over the last few days, she didn’t want to do sixth year again, not because most of it would be repetition but simply because she didn’t want to do it, she wanted to stay with what was left of her friends. It was hard enough having to wrap her brain around walking the hallways where she fought, passing the spot where Fred died, for one year, but she simply couldn’t fathom doing it for two.

“Now you three can join Ginny in seventh year if you like…” Minerva started, then paused as she watched Harry and Ron’s expressions changed and she added, “Maybe you should discuss this amongst yourselves first…” Those two obviously had some decisions either to be made or that had been made, that the others did not know about yet.

“Okay.” Hermione said, looking over at Ginny with a confused expression which Ginny did not return, she just gave her a small nervous smile. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Ron glance at Harry, who returned his gaze. As she slowly rose from her seat and made her way up the stairs, she noticed George walking behind them as they made their way to Ron and Harry’s room.

“What was that all about?” Hermione asked as George shut the bedroom door behind them, and leant against the door. Hermione and Ginny dropped on to Harry’s bed, and Harry and Ron lowered themselves onto the edge of Ron’s bed, both knowing exactly what Minerva was saying.

All five of them were silent for a few moments, Hermione’s brain whirring away beside Ginny, Ginny knew that it wouldn’t be long before Hermione worked it out so it would be easier if they just told her, someone had to talk first and it would be best if Ginny didn’t bring it up. Still leaning against the door George cleared his throat and stared pointedly at Ron which cause confusion for the rest of them.

“I’m…” Ron started quietly, then cleared his throat and began again, “I’m not going back to school.”

“What?” Hermione breathed staring at him, not even processing who else knew at this point, or why he didn’t tell her before but shocked how part of her seemed to have guessed it already, even though she was still surprised at this announcement.

“I’m going to work for..” Ron started, now looking up from the ground, eyes only for Hermione pleading her silently to understand. He wasn’t going to go back there anyway, how could he, after everything, but at least he had somewhere else to go, some direction to head for a little while at least.

“With.” George corrected him, as he stood forgotten leant against the door as they all stared at Ron. Knowing Ron wouldn’t he added, “Me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Hermione exclaimed her voice rose as she spoke, no doubt she would be yelling soon, they all would be. Obviously, they had not yelled themselves out this morning, but at least they would get everything out in the open.

“Because I knew you would react this way.” Ron said calmly, he wasn’t in the mood to yell again, not yet anyway. He knew he should have told Hermione, he should have told them all but he wasn’t ready yet, they had had so much fun whilst playing Quidditch he didn’t want to ruin it.

“That’s beca…” Hermione started then paused. Looking over at Ginny who was examining her hands she added, “You told Ginny!” She knew that Ginny knew, otherwise Ginny would yelling at him along with her, but obviously she had already done her yelling, or didn’t deem it necessary.

“I was goi…” Ron started, his expression soft as Hermione rose from Harry’s bed and began slowly pacing the room.

“Did you know!” Hermione yelled at Harry as she stopped and glared at him. Harry was staring at Ron with shock, it didn’t look like he knew but he was hiding something and Hermione couldn’t quite work out what it was.

“Well kinda.” Harry said, his eyes downcast as he examined his feet.

“Harry!” Hermione exclaimed, as she took a step towards him, he leant back in the chair and looked up at her.

“I didn’t know about working for George!” Harry replied, as he raised his hands in mock surrender, which didn’t help Hermione’s mood when the rest of them couldn’t help but laugh.

“With.” George interjected.

“So it’s just going to be Harry and me?” Hermione said after taking a deep breath, she didn’t want to shout but she knew it was just a matter of seconds before she would start.

“And me!” Ginny cut in, she was going to be a seventh year as well. But right now it wasn’t really about that, it was about what Hermione wasn’t told and she was pissed.

“Well actually…” Harry started, as his gaze fell to the ground again, he hadn’t told anyone that he wasn’t coming back because he hadn’t really decided until McGonagall had sat on the edge of her seat and talked about school.

“You’re not coming back either!” Hermione shrieked as she took a step back from them all and looked searchingly at each of their faces, how could she not have noticed this?

“No.” Harry answered, looking up from the ground and giving Ginny a small smile, which she did not return.

“What?” Ginny yelled, she knew about Ron not heading back to school but she thought Harry would, although it didn’t really surprise her that he wasn’t. After everything that took place Hogwarts the bad seemed to outweigh the good, not because there was more of it but just because it was impossible not to focus on it, especially since it was all so raw.

“And you were just waiting to tell us?” Hermione exclaimed, taking another step back. She knew that after everything it would horrible to have walk through those halls, to have to remember it all but she didn’t really consider that they just wouldn’t come.

“I already knew.” Ron said, his confession was quiet but in the silence it carried throughout the room.

“What?” Ginny and Hermione shouted in unison, in turn staring at Ron first and then over at Harry while George stood silently by the door watching it all unfold.

“You told him but not me!” Ginny exclaimed jumping up from her bed as she glared down at Harry.

“He didn’t exactly tell me!” Ron exclaimed, giving an apologetic smile to Harry as Ginny’s eyes softened. She hated not knowing, but she hated that Ron knew before her even more. And the thought that Harry had told Ron was not surprising, just rather annoying.

“Then how the hell did you know?” Hermione exclaimed her feet planted firmly to the spot as she looked incredulously at Ron, how did he notice when nobody else did.

“He’s my best friend!” Ron exclaimed and then regretted it immediately when he watched their expressions harden.

“He’s my boyfriend!” Ginny shot back, glaring at him again. She was madder with herself than with him, how could she not tell.

“Even I knew!” George said, laughing quietly to himself as Ginny glared over at him.

“What?” Harry muttered, wondering how George knew.

“It was obvious!” George replied grinning at Ginny who scowled back.

“Not to me!” Ginny exclaimed, staring wide eyed at George, shocked at how he figured it out and she couldn’t.

“Or me!” Hermione added, how could she not have seen any of this? Did she see it but ignore it because she didn’t want it to be true or did she just not notice? Which prompted her to think about what else she might have missed, so much had changed already, she couldn’t imagine going back to Hogwarts without them.

“Sure…” Ron muttered, both Ginny and Hermione must have noticed, they were nosy and smart, how could they have missed it. Maybe everyone was too caught up in what had happened, looking for signs of grief from the others, and no longer seeing the everyday normal things that they used to be so accustomed to spotting.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Ginny snapped, glaring at Ron as she took a step towards him, she needed to yell, she knew she was about to.

“Would you all stop yelling Minerva and I are talking downstairs and we can barely hear ourselves think.” Molly said, she didn’t raise her voice and she didn’t need to, they heard her loud and clear.

“Ron’s not going back to school!” Ginny yelled, if she couldn’t yell at him about it, she could at least get her mother to do so.

“What?” Molly exclaimed looking from Ginny to Ron looking shocked. The strict look on her face was gone, replaced by something that Ron didn’t immediately recognise.

“Thanks Ginny.” Ron smiled sarcastically at Ginny for a moment before turning to Molly and taking a step towards her, “I’m going to work with George.” He gave her a small smile, wishing that he wasn’t just disappointing her which he knew he had a tendency to do. Molly would want him to finish school but he couldn’t go back there, not after everything, he just couldn’t.

“And…” Molly said, scanning their blank faces, they were prepared for yelling and shouting, they didn’t expect this.

“What do you mean and?” George asked quietly taking a small step towards her mother, not wanting to make any sudden movements in case she changed her mind, she did have a tendency to yell, especially at Fred and him.

“So it will just be you girls at school.” Molly said slowly, a small smile on her face.  She didn’t want Hermione or Ginny to be alone, and with both Harry and Ron not going she didn’t have to worry about not being able to keep an eye on them, they were at that age, she knew what they got up to.

“You knew about Harry not going?” Hermione muttered, trying to contain her shock and frustration, how on earth did everybody know, and how could she not know?

“Everybody knows!” Molly exclaimed, not able to stop from grinning. She could finally have a year where she didn’t have to worry about those three getting themselves killed, in secret chambers, or battling dragons, or werewolves and rodents.

“What?” Ginny and Hermione yelled in unison, looking over at each, wondering how they both missed this.

“Now if you would stop bickering for just a moment food is ready and Minerva is joining us so it would be best if you could all behave yourselves for the next hour.” Molly said, her voice steady and clear but not loud, Ginny had learnt to speak like her mother, taking control of the room and she had learnt from the best.

“Ok?” Molly added as she looked at the downcast faces, their heads filled with unspoken words that needed to come out, they needed to yell, they needed to talk, but they couldn’t not for the next hour at least, they had to be polite and civil and pretend that nothing bothered them.

“You girls can yell all you want after she leaves.” Molly said with a smile, which Ron and Harry nervously returned before giving each other nervous looks, they both needed to prepare some decent answers over the next hour and they knew it.

“We’ll be down in a moment.” Ginny replied politely. Molly smiled and left the bedroom, heading off downstairs to lead Minerva outside. Not looking at each other all five of them followed her out of the door and towards the steps.

Harry went to kiss Ginny but she put her palm to his chest and pushed him away, “I’ll deal with you later.” She glowered before walking downstairs ahead of them with a fuming Hermione only a few steps behind her, leaving the boys standing still, George in fits of laughter and Harry red in the face whilst Ron watched Hermione descend the staircase wondering how she really felt about all this.


	20. Teenagers

No clouds in sight, the sun high in the sky and the garden looked perfect to Harry but he couldn’t appreciate to the day, nor the food, nor the weather, and especially not the company. Minerva asked a few questions, and received short straight to the point answers, before the table sunk into silence again. When Harry asked Hermione to pass the plate of sandwiches she moved it so fast it almost hit his face, and didn’t even raise her eyes from staring at her hands resting on her lap as she did so. Finally Ron had had enough of the never ending silence, he could cut the tension with any number of spells and he thought it was mostly undeserved.

“This is ridiculous.” Ron said, looking over at Hermione, he had thought of asking her to get more drinks or something with him, but he knew that probably wouldn’t take, and he had to talk to Ginny about this too, so two birds one stone.

“Ron I reall…” George muttered, pushing Ron’s plate closer to him, attempting to persuade him to eat not talk, which would be better for everyone.

“Look we all knew, we all knew that Harry and I weren’t going back.” Ron continued, ignoring George and pushing his plate away from him, he had sat silently for the last half an hour, observing the glares that Ginny was sharing with both him and Harry, and he could almost feel Hermione’s brain whirring from across the table.

“That’s n…” George whispered, trying to cut him off midstream, no good could come of this, and he couldn’t do any more yelling, not today anyway, and he definitely couldn’t handle crying, or Harry and Ginny not talking and Ron and Hermione bickering.

“You didn’t want to believe it but you both still knew.” Harry spoke up, prompting George to throw up his hands in defeat, there was no way he could shush both Harry and Ron, he was surrounded by stupidity, he would just to see how it went, and try not to get blamed.

“And if you didn’t know, this couldn’t exactly come as a surprise.” Ron added, smiling gratefully at Harry for the support. At least neither of them were going, so Hermione and Ginny couldn’t concentrate their anger on one of them, but had to spread it between the two of them, which was far easier to handle.

“What?” Ginny exclaimed, her mutinous glare returning.

“After everything that we went through there how could we return and act like nothing…” Ron started, his eyes solely focussed on Hermione, he could see Harry nodding along next to George, and he could see Hermione’s expression softening a little bit.

“That wouldn’t be…” Hermione cut him off in a small voice, trying to block out the images that came to mind as she imagined walking the halls again, she knew what he meant but then it would be harder for him.

“Kids…” Molly said quietly, Ginny took after her and Hermione could yell just as well as both of them, all Molly wanted was a pleasant afternoon tea with Minerva, then Minerva could head off, and Molly could head over and visit Andromeda, and leave them to yell at each other to their hearts content.

“It’s fine Molly.” Minerva replied, she was far too tired to mediate this and part of her just wanted to listen to the familiar bickerings about relatively small things.

“We can’t go back there Hermione, not yet…” Ron began, with Hermione desperately trying to not get lost in the depths of Ron’s eyes, she could feel her anger subsiding but she wasn’t ready to let go of it, not completely, not just yet.

“Ginny went through it too and she’s going back..” Hermione started weakly, she knew it was one of the weakest arguments but she was currently at a loss for something more substantial.

“It’s not just that, and of course she is, she does whatever she wants, and she wants to go back to school, and we don’t want to.” Ron replied, tearing his eyes away from Hermione’s and smiling over at Ginny spoke, trying to convey how proud he was of her, primarily proud of her strength right now, but more so just proud in general.

 “But WHY?” Hermione said, half yelling the second half. So much had changed already, she couldn’t imagine not having Ron and Harry at school with her. There had to be one year for Ron and her to be a couple at school, getting detentions for making out in the hallways, snuggling in front of the fire, stealing kisses before classes, all that she had dreamt about during 6th year and before then.

“We don’t belong there anymore Hermione.” Harry answered for Ron, Hermione was looking pleadingly at Ron, who couldn’t find any words inside of his head while Hermione’s eyes looked like that.

“That is bullshit!” Hermione exclaimed, not yet ready to let of go of it. She knew they were right, she knew that they weren’t coming back and she knew she couldn’t convince them, but she wasn’t ready to give in quite yet.

“He’s right, we don…” Ron started with loudly but he got quieter as he realised he was about to be cut off.

“That is…” Hermione started, trying not to glare at Ron but also trying not to let the anger increase or decrease, she was still pissed but she was partly struggling to remember why.

“I love Hogwarts, it was my first home, I met my family there but I’m not a student anymore.” Harry said, smiling at Ron, then Hermione, then Ginny and then over at Molly. Hogwarts had given him everything, it had given him far more than it had taken away but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt to even think of returning.

“Hermione’s way smarter than both of you and she’s going back, it can’t be that you know too much.” Ginny said, grinning at Harry and Ron as they shrugged their shoulders, agreeing with her.

“How can you not be relieved?” Ron said turning his attention over to Hermione now, this time he was blocking everybody out, having eyes only for her.

“Relieved?” Hermione laughed at the ridiculousness that was that question, her expression changed as soon as she noticed that she was only one who saw that question as completely insane, they all seemed to agree with Ron, especially Minerva.

“Won’t it be nice to have a year of school where you don’t have to worry about us failing our exams, or whether or not Harry will get himself killed or you will be petrified, or giant spiders will eat us alive.” Ron said, smiling over at Hermione, trying not to shudder as he remembered being in the forest second year.

“That last one was always your worry.” George grinned, trying to laugh as he remembered when Fred turned his teddy bear into a spider.

“This year you could just focus on you, without all of our distractions.” Ron continued, ignoring his brother and the smiles that the others exchanged, which both Hermione and him ignored.

“But it won’t be the same, I can’t go back without you and Harry.” Hermione protested, she didn’t want to be alone in the common room night after night just like she was at the start. Ron raised his eyebrow causing her to add, “Well I don’t want to.” She would have Ginny, but it still wouldn’t be the same without Harry and Ron.

“Why?” Ron asked surprised, he knew she would be hesitant but he didn’t realise he would care this much, she had Ginny, she wouldn’t be alone.

“Well…. What about my nightmares!” Hermione paused for a moment, trying to find a reason that wasn’t solely based on missing them both, especially Ron, she exclaimed the last part, with a small satisfied smile on her face, she knew that Ron wouldn’t leave her in the Manor night after night.

“You could just floo after dinner.” Minerva suggested, shocking both Ron and Hermione as they had forgotten she was there, as had George, Ginny and Harry.

“Really?” Molly asked, partly surprised but mostly not, she knew how much Minerva cared for them, plus this was not exactly a normal set of circumstances in any respect.

“But the ru…” Hermione started, “Ouch!” she exclaimed as she glared at Ginny and leant down to rub her shin, which Ginny had just kicked.

“More cake anyone?” Ginny smiled as she offered the plate around, shushing Hermione with a wave of her hand as she bent down to see if Ginny had given her a bruise. “I’m not pissed that you’re not going, I’m pissed you didn’t tell me Harry.” Ginny said to Harry, softening her face completely this time.

“I should have told you.” Harry replied, as he rose from his seat, Ginny mirrored him.

“Now if you don’t mind I am going to have a private chat with my boyfriend.” Ginny grinned at them as she walked towards Harry, desperately wanting to kiss him but knowing that she would have to wait until they were inside. Not only was Molly annoyed with their high level of PDA amongst other things but also Minerva didn’t need to see them kissing.

“I think we’ll head inside as well.” Hermione said as she rose from her seat, no longer mad at Ron, she didn’t want to keep discussing things in front of Molly and Minerva but wanted to go inside, and perhaps kiss a little.

“Yeah.” George replied, standing up to the surprise of Ron and Hermione, and causing Minerva to smile at Hermione’s shocked expression.

“Was actuall…” Hermione started, as she pushed her chair in and took a step backwards.

“No you weren’t.” George said cutting over her and looking at Ron with a smile that read, don’t you leave me here with them.

“Us, uh three must be heading in, lovely seeing you, or something.” Ron said politely, smiling at Minerva, and hesitating for a second before walking quickly into the house beside George.

“Teenagers.” Molly muttered as they disappeared into the house.

“Tell me about it.” Minerva replied, smiling over at Molly. This what she had missed most about the war, the little squabbles, escaping the watchful adult eyes, the small patch of simplicity that used to be teaching at Hogwarts. Well it never was really simple, and it only got harder as time went by. But amidst Harry almost dying once a year, he got to be a normal kid, who got scolded for homework like everyone else, almost got detention for extremely noticeable PDA with Ginny, and was able to laugh and just be the kid he never really had the chance to be.

“I think this one’s for you.” Molly said as she watched the owl approaching, there was no reason it would be for her, but the owl looked far to official to be. Instead of skidding to a stop across the table it slowed down as it approached them and perched itself on the table, sticking its leg out to Minerva with a satisfied look.

“I really better get going.” Minerva said apologetically once her eyes had finished scanning the letter. She wished that she could stay for another hour or so, but she had business to attend to, and more answers to get out of people. Standing up she hugged Molly quickly and then hurried off towards the gate, off to the Ministry.


	21. In the Field

George pushed the door shut behind him, caught the apple that Ron threw to him from the kitchen and headed up the stairs to his bedroom, not wanting to be part of Ron and Hermione’s conversation or to have to watch them kissing again. There are many things that he didn’t mind having to witness but Ron kissing Hermione or Harry feeling up Ginny were not what he wanted to see, ever. And yet, he had to see it almost every day now.

Hearing Ginny’s bedroom door being kicked shut, he heard laughter for a moment before it was silenced, one of them had used the muffling charm, thank god he thought to himself, he had no desire to overhear Ginny and Harry’s conversation. Reaching his new room he shut the door behind him and collapsed onto his bed. With a flick of his wand he switched on the radio, searched through a few channels, turned up the volume, and blocked the world and his thoughts out with the lyrics of Timeturner.

 

Downstairs still in the kitchen Hermione’s arms were draped around Ron’s neck as her lips were pressed against his. She still had more to say, but she wanted to kiss him first, she wanted to have his hands rest on her hips while her tongue slid between his lips, and to get lost in their passion.

Hearing the back door open she reluctantly pulled her lips from Ron’s and took a step away from him before smiling sheepishly over at Molly who headed into the lounge.

“Your room?” Hermione asked, knowing that Harry and Ginny would be in her and Ginny’s room, and as Ginny’s brother, who was doing his best to pretend he didn’t know what they did in there, she didn’t want to remind Ron of what they both knew to be true.

“No, I want to get out of the house for a while.” Ron replied as he stepped towards Hermione and kissed her lightly on the lips before smiling down at her. They had barely been in the house all day, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to spend time in the house, everything still painfully reminded him of what he didn’t want to think about, not now anyway.

Hermione didn’t say anything in reply, she just nodded. She was desperately hoping that they would talk more about everything while it was just the two of them, but she knew that they probably wouldn’t. They would no doubt talk about almost everything except the yelling that took only a few hours ago, or about Ron not going back to school.

Together they walked in silence, out of the kitchen, and out of the gate, into the field. Hermione walked slowly, her fingers intertwined with Ron’s as they walked across the field, not heading anywhere in particular, she knew he wouldn’t want to sit still yet, so let him lead. She didn’t want to unknowingly force him to walk a path that painfully reminded him of Fred.

They had been slowly walking for about 20 minutes, talking about Teddy and their afternoon Quidditch match, among other things before Hermione just simply couldn’t take it anymore. She had to talk about the topic that they were purposely avoiding. Wanting to ease subtly into it she suddenly couldn’t think of anything to say, and went with the outright approach.

“So school.” Hermione said simply, part of her thinking that they would bicker, part of her thinking that Ron would ignore the topic completely and part of her wishing she hadn’t brought it up and had kissed him instead. She thought that it would be easier if she had picked the last option, and she would have enjoyed the next few seconds of silence better she had her lips on his, she hated waiting for him to respond.

“I just…”  Hermione started slowly, trying to prompt him in to speaking.

“Hermione will you stop! This is crazy, do you know how long it is going to be before we actually have to deal with this? I mean, it’s the 17th of May, school doesn’t start back till September! We have months to sort everything out. Plus you probably won’t still be getting nightmares then and if you do you can floo to the Burrow or George’s flat or to Grimmauld Place, wherever I end up staying.” Ron said, making sure that he didn’t shout, he didn’t want to bicker again, he had had enough of it today.

He didn’t want Hermione to think that he hadn’t thought about this for a few days, well just over two weeks actually. Sure he had only recently had the plan to work with, not for, George, but he knew he wasn’t going back to school, standing in the ruins that was the Great Hall he had known, known that he wasn’t returning, but he hadn’t told the others, only Harry knew, and that was because he felt it too.

“It’s the 17th of May today!” Hermione exclaimed, looking down at her watch quickly, knowing that the one she was wearing didn’t even have the date, but she looked all the same.

“The date is all you took from what I said? That’s the bit you focussed on!” Ron said, almost laughing, usually it was Hermione in this position, but it was him this time and he could help but smile.

“It’s not that I’m just.. it’s only been 15 days since well everything.” Hermione replied as she headed towards a tree, tightening her grip on Ron’s hand, pulling him towards the tree.  Lowering herself onto the ground, she shuffled backwards and positioned herself against Ron, who leant against the tree, kissing her lightly on the top of her head as he wrapped his arms around her.

“It can’t have only been two weeks.” Ron said slowly, breathing in Hermione as he tried to calm his mind, trying not to have to have a few flashbacks. With his eyes still shut he added, “But also it can’t have been two weeks already.”

Hermione nodded her head a little in agreement but didn’t say anything, she just looked up at the sky and focussed on where she was. Feeling safe in Ron’s arms as her head leant against his chest she couldn’t help but think of her parents. She thought of them in Australia, she thought of them alive and safe and happy, and she thought of them tortured and dead. She thought of how mad they would be once she fixed them, and then she pondered whether or not she could fix them, and what would happen if she didn’t.

So deep in thought she didn’t notice as Ron’s breathing slowed, and she didn’t notice when he started snoring quietly. She sat deep in thought for over half an hour before she knew that Ron couldn’t be awake, before she knew that she wasn’t the only one underneath that tree that was having nightmares. It didn’t happen all at once, she heard something, before she felt something. Ron’s grip had been tightening slowly over a matter of minutes, he wasn’t holding her hard, but his body was tensing up.

“What?” Hermione murmured, not yet ready to be pulled out of her thoughts. She thought that Ron had said something, and waited for a few seconds to reply, but he said nothing. Annoyed she sat up, out of his grip and turned to face him, about to say something when she noticed his expression. He was clearly asleep, and he was clearly not having a peaceful slumber. She could see goosebumps all over his skin, and she could see sweat patches growing on his shirt. She noticed the stiff look of his body, and his small sharp movements.

“Ron!” Hermione exclaimed, going to place her hands on his shoulders but immediately realising that wouldn’t be the best idea, he was a lot stronger than she was, and he could easily hurt her. He was having a nightmare, so he might hurt her, unintentionally of course,  and if he did, she knew that would make him feel exponentially worse, and she didn’t want to make it worse for him, that was not what she intended to do at all.

Wrapping her fingers around her wand she pointed it at him, but for the life of her she couldn’t think of a single spell that would work. If someone had come running at her, to attack her, she could throw about a hundred different spells at them with ease, but nothing came to mind to help Ron.  If only she had a bucket of water to throw on him or something, and then she remembered, and felt ridiculously stupid for a moment.

Not knowing that water was Ron’s solution to basically the same problem, Hermione aimed for his face and sprayed him with far more cold water than was necessary, but it did the job. Freezing, confused and spluttering, at least Ron was awake and no longer locked his mind, amidst seemingly never ending torment.

Hermione looked down at Ron, and Ron looked up at Hermione, both silent, not knowing what to do first. Ron could sense some yelling coming, he had never explicitly mentioned that he wasn’t getting nightmares. He could see that Hermione looked confused, which was an unnatural expression for her, not often did she appear at a lost, although that could sometimes be Ron’s default expression. But shockingly, she didn’t look mad, she didn’t look mad that he didn’t tell her, nor did she looked disappointed. Hermione was shocked and confused, mainly because she couldn’t believe he had managed to hide this from not her, they slept in the same bed, their bodies pushed against each other and their finger intertwined, when he wasn’t ‘getting a drink’.

“I’m sorry I di..” Ron begun softly, it took everything in him to hold Hermione’s gaze, but he couldn’t not look at her, and after what he had just witnessed, in a nightmare that felt like reality, he had a heightened sense of fear. They were alone in the field, no one was around and he wouldn’t be able to save her, just like he couldn’t save her in his nightmare and just like he couldn’t save her in the Manor, but then again, she could save herself.

“You’re an idiot.” Hermione cut over him as she threw herself towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck, not caring that he was sitting in a puddle of cold water, or that he was completely drenched, she pulled him close to him.

Hesitating for a moment Ron took a second to realise that she wasn’t about to strangle him, and upon doing so he wrapped his arms around her, ignoring how cold he was, he breathed her in for what felt like the hundredth time today, needing her to calm himself down.

“Where were you?” Hermione asked softly after she had finally let go of him. She sat down just in front of him, their knees touching as she dried them and the ground off. Ron’s expression changed immediately, and he tried to rectify it, but it was too late, Hermione saw it already. She already knew he wouldn’t want to talk about but that didn’t matter, she didn’t want to push him but she thought it would be better if he didn’t keep it to himself, he couldn’t, he just couldn’t.

“Nowhere, everywhere.” Ron muttered, he was looking into her eyes, finding comfort in their softness, in their familiar brown that were different enough from Ginny’s and his mothers so that he wasn’t reminded of them.

“Okay.” Hermione said slowly, not sure what he meant. She always dreamt about the Manor, well when she did have her nightmares, which she hadn’t since she had slept with Ron, and the Manor was horrible, but at least a part of her, some small silent part knew that she was dreaming. From the expression on Ron’s face she could tell that Ron experienced much of the same each night, but also far too much was new, and probably started off feeling real.

“It starts off in the Burrow, not always but more often than not. Then it goes to the Manor, where so much is different, but far too much is the same. But…” Ron said trailing off as he was consumed with his thoughts, his tone was flat as spoke and got quieter as he remembered. He remembered what he was forced to relive in his sleep, he remembered the delightful scenes that his mind made up for him and then he remembered the image that flashed in his mind far too often when he was awake, but never when he was asleep.

Fred. In his dreams Fred wasn’t in them, not yet anyway. But every few minutes of every waking hour he would see Fred die. Something small would remind him, not that he ever forgot and he would see it happen again, hitting him all over again.

“I have to do something.” Ron said suddenly, his voice was clear, but distant, his eyes were on her but they weren’t focused.

“What?” Hermione asked startled, no doubt he was reminded of something, and from the looks of his expression it wasn’t necessarily bad, but that didn’t make it good.

“I’m sorry but I…” Ron started as he stood up quickly, his mind on other things he extended his hand out to Hermione and pulled her up just as she placed her hand in his. He stopped talking as he looked at her, he kissed her quickly and then turned around, heading back towards the Burrow at a run.

“Ron!” Hermione exclaimed as she ran after him, but she wasn’t nearly as fast as he was. It didn’t occur to her to cast a spell to stop him, so she continued to run yelling his name as she did so.

“RONALD..” Hermione started but stopped as Ron turned to face her and smiled towards her, standing on the spot instead of running away.

“This will only take a moment.” Ron yelled back at her, trying to assure her that this wasn’t bad, it wasn’t to do with the nightmare, he wasn’t checking that his family weren’t dead in their beds, killed by Bellatrix, or that Ginny the only survivor, wasn’t being leisurely torn apart by Greyback.

“How often?” Hermione asked as she stopped running, and continued to walk quickly towards him, not wanting him to turn around and run off again. She wasn’t finished asking him about his secret nightmares, and she now wanted to know what he was so keen to do.

“Honestly only a few times, twice, three times maybe.” Ron replied, this time Hermione knew he was being honest, she could read it all over his face. But she still hated that she had to find out this way, that Ron didn’t tell her, she understood why he didn’t, although she wished he didn’t feel that nobody should be worried about him.

“Why now?” Hermione asked, as she came closer to Ron, she wanted to kiss him but part of her wanting to shake him first. Not mentioning not going back to Hogwarts was one thing, but these nightmares, she could tell that he was still rather shaken now, and part of her realised why he had seemed so weird this morning, he was probably cautious that it was just another dream and was unconsciously waiting for the horrors to begin.

“George recko…” Ron began, not realising what he was saying, until it was too late, biting down on his tongue he stopped, but he had already said more than he wanted to.

“You told George!” Hermione exclaimed. Part of her was relieved that he told someone, especially George, but she was still sort of pissed.

“No!” Ron said quickly.

“Ron!” Hermione insisted, watching Ron’s expression carefully.

“I didn’t I swear. He just thought I was afraid to sleep.” Ron replied, giving Hermione a small smile, which she hesitantly returned, she knew he wasn’t lying but a small bit of her wished that he was, that he had told someone, anyone.

“Why?” Hermione asked as she wrapped her arms around him.

“Cause he kept finding me asleep at the kitchen table lying on a book that I was reading to keep me awake.” Ron replied, trying to keep his tone even and making sure that Hermione was looking over his shoulder as she hugged him. Hoping that she wouldn’t notice his expression, or how his shoulders tensed a little as he lied, he promised George he wouldn’t tell, and this was how it needed to be for now.

“Okay.” Hermione breathed as she moved her head, and moved her body back a little, repositioned her arms and kissed him. His hands slid across her skin as much as possible as he moved them, resting them on her hips and she pulled his body close to hers, and kissed without pausing for breath.

“Hermione.” Ron breathed against her, but she wouldn’t let him continue, her mouth covered his, silencing him, for a few more seconds at least. It had been a long day, it truly had been, after running around with George, a trip from Kreacher, nightmares, bickering,  Quidditch, McGongall’s visit and more nightmares, all in less than 24 hours. Ron would give anything to remain in the garden only metres from the house kissing Hermione but he had to do something first.

“I will only be a few minutes at most I swear.” Ron said, after their lips parted. Hermione pouted for a second before Ron kissed her quickly and turned towards the house, off with a run again, this time Hermione just stood and watched, curious.

He didn’t need to look around the house, he knew who he wanted to find and he knew where he would be. Passing the kitchen he ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time, almost pausing for a moment when it struck him how he actually enjoyed running now, odd how things change over time. Pushing that thought out of his mind he kept running, he had something that he had to say, and was surprised by the desperation he now felt. He was ready, he was finally ready.

“I want to go to Godric’s Hollow.” Ron declared as he pushed open the door, not even scanning the room before he spoke, he knew who was in the room, he already knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some action is coming, it is only a few chapters away now...


	22. Godric's Hollow

The wind would have been barely noticeable except for the subtle sway of the curtain that George kept his eye on as he lay on his bed, wondering what he could possibly do, but not bothering to do anything at all. Destroying the calm that he felt were hurried, loud footsteps quickly approaching the door, he sighed, this couldn’t be a conversation that he would want to have. The door swung open, as George sat up slowly to see who was so eager to see him.

“I want to go to Godric’s Hollow.” Ron blurted out before George’s eyes could locate him. He stared across the room blankly as he repositioned himself on the bed, whilst Ron watched him closely.

“Now?” George replied.

“Now.” Ron said nodding. He wasn’t smiling, how could he be, but he was determined. This was the first time he had wanted to go, really wanted to go.

“Yeah me too.” George answered, pushing himself off the bed and grabbing his wand before he took a step towards Ron.

“We should bring the others.” Ron said, half asking, half commanding. He hadn’t been to Godric’s Hollow since, none of them had as far as he knew, and he knew that they would want to come if George and him were going. This was something that they needed to do together, and this was something that would hopefully help them all, but perhaps not, that remained to be seen.

“Yes.” George stepped into his shoes and followed Ron out of his room and down the stairs. They would have to get the others, and George was desperately hoping that Ron wouldn’t require him to get Harry and Ginny, he didn’t need to see them kissing and feeling each other up.

“I’ll tell Hermione could yo..” Ron started looking apologetically up at George as he quickened his pace, knowing that Hermione would be downstairs waiting for him, curious and hopefully not still worried.

“Fine.” George sighed. Ron grinned at him and continued down the staircase, his smile vanishing as he passed the step, that damn step, that never failed to painfully remind him of Fred.

Ron wanted to go to Godric’s Hollow, he had to go to Godric’s Hollow, and he had to go now. In one sense he couldn’t quite work out why he had practically asked George’s permission to bring the others with them, but it also made complete sense to him. Between Ginny and him, George was forced to be with them, all of them, they weren’t going to let him lock himself away, because even though none of them knew how to fix each other, they could damn well try together. But Ron didn’t want to force George, so he asked, just in case George would rather it be just them.  Although Ron wasn’t sure that he could go there without Hermione, Harry and Ginny as well.

“See, told you I’d be fast.” Ron smiled smugly at Hermione as he stepped out of the backdoor and found her playfully flicking her wand, she had cleaned up the garden a little bit, and was now helping the flowers to grow and a few seedlings to mature.

Hermione lowered her wand and turned to face Ron, she didn’t say anything but smiled at him expectantly as she took a step towards him.

“I want to go to Godric’s Hollow.” Ron announced taking a step forward, as her smile dropped. Of course, something in his nightmare, or in his thinking, made him want to, and he went to get George, but why didn’t he just tell her? Then it hit her, maybe he didn’t want her to come. Seeming to know what she was thinking he added, “I want you to come, I just had to make sure we wouldn’t all be overwhelming George.”

“When are we going?” Hermione asked as he placed his hands on her hips and smiled down at her, glad that she was coming, and glad that in a few seconds he could kiss her.

“Now.” Ron whispered as his mouth hovered over hers.

Hermione nodded slightly, as she lost herself in his blue eyes she moved her lips towards him but hesitated for a moment before she breathed, “I love you.” Those three words soothed her, she loved how they felt coming off her lips, she loved that she could say them without fear of rejection, it still felt odd in a sense, saying them to him, but they felt natural, rolling off the tip of her tongue without having to think.

“I love you too.” Ron smiled at her before her kissed her, in a way that showed he meant what he had just said. Hermione reciprocated, snaking her arms around his neck, she pulled him close to her and felt his hand sliding up her back as she slipped her tongue between his lips.

“Oh come on!” George shouted from behind them, forcing them to pull apart and turn to face him, where he stood by the backdoor with a grin of his face.

“We ready?” Harry asked as he pushed George out of the way and walked towards Ron. Ron and Harry walked off ahead of the others, leaving George complaining about the level of PDA he had encountered, both up stairs and then again downstairs. Neither blushed and both smiled at each other, glad that there was no yelling.

Ron and Harry walked together in silence, sentences formulating in their heads but nothing that had to be spoken. They both knew what the other would say, they didn’t need words of comfort, they had each other, and that was more than enough. Ron was still Harry’s best friend and Harry was still Ron’s, each other’s silent company was comfort enough.

Going to Godric’s Hollow wouldn’t be a fun experience for anyone involved, and would be painful, which is why they all needed each other. For Harry, Godric’s Hollow did not supply many happy memories, nor did it do so for Ron, Hermione, Ginny or George.

Reaching the border first Harry and Ron closed their eyes and upon opening them were in an empty park that neither of them had seen for about two weeks. Looking at each other they made the decision not to wait for the others, who would be right behind them.

“It feels weird doesn’t it.” Ron muttered as they stepped onto the main street which was bustling with people, having their own conversations, smiling or frowning, oblivious to Ron and Harry’s sudden appearance.

“That never really stops.” Harry replied, moving a little closer to Ron, needing the comfort himself and knowing that Ron would need it too. Together they walked in silence, observing the people around them, both wondering what it would be like to live amongst them, not having experienced all that they had, having normal, simple lives instead. Harry glanced over at Ron and smiled, he may have lost his parents, and Sirius, and Remus, and Fred, but he didn’t lose his family, he still had a family, he had Ginny, George, Ron, Hermione, Arthur, Molly and all the others. They were his family and he was theirs. Truthfully, that was all that really mattered to him it that moment. He didn’t want to go where he was going, but he knew he needed to. Beside him Ron’s breathing tightened, they were approaching the kissing gate, and his stomach was lodged in his throat, why did he want to come here so much?

Behind him he could hear Hermione and Ginny’s speaking stop, they could see it too. An odd calm settled amongst them all for a moment but just like that it was gone again and Harry felt like he was suffocating, Ginny’s legs felt like lead and Hermione was digging her nails into the palm of her hand. George was the only one who didn’t slow his pace, he caught up to Ron and Harry just as they reached the kissing gate. Ron pushed it open, and held it as the others filed in, their breath catching as they took it all in.

The cemetery was just as they had remembered it. Harry and Hermione had been here twice already, once when it was covered in snow on Christmas Eve and then again with all the others, for the funerals they attended there a few days after the Battle of Hogwarts. There had been a loud debate where to bury Fred, and after a few hours it had been decided that he would be buried along with Tonks, Remus, Sirius, Harry’s parents and the others that lay to rest there. It seemed fitting that Fred would be buried in the birth place of Godric Gryffindor, and nobody was prepared to fight George on this, he wanted Fred to be buried in Godric’s Hollow and once he got Molly convinced, the argument was over.

There were far more graves than ever before, white stone slab after white stone slab covered the grass, almost giving the appearance of tiles. So many people had died over the past year, most of which had being buried in the last few weeks, only a small percentage of those found ended up here, but it made Ginny feel positively sick, the sheer number of fresh plots, that weren’t even a twelfth of those who died. On the 5th of May they started the morning with Lupin and Tonk’s funeral, with Teddy’s crying ringing in their ears. Over the next few hours they apparated to grave yard after grave yard, where speech after speech was given, each regarding a different person, who died in the Battle of Hogwarts. Fred’s funeral was the last, George refused to have it during the daylight, and no one would argue with him, they apparated back to Godric’s Hollow without a word.

There were no speeches at Fred’s funeral, no one could stand up and say something, it was far too hard, and anyway Fred would have hated having his funeral a somber affair. His funeral began with a fireworks display, which quickly became a fireworks battle of some form, with the Weasley’s all dodging and firing fireworks and other spells at each other, the cemetery filling with laughter and shrieking as the bars emptied out and their fellow grievers joined in the somewhat joyful affair.

**...**

As they moved forward they fanned out, George, Ron and Ginny went straight towards Fred, while Harry went towards his parents, and Hermione headed to Lupin and Tonks. Far too many people they knew were buried in this cemetery, and they each stood in silence in front of their respective graves, flicking their wands lightly to create fresh wreaths to place. With tears streaming down her face Ginny grinned down at Fred’s grave, in most respects in was the same as all the others, the stone was the stone as those surrounding it, his name, dates and basic inscription were similar to those around him, but near the bottom in big block letters, was a single word, centred, “Mischief.” The plot beside Fred’s had been reserved for George by himself, so that when he finally died, they would be together again and also Fred’s single solitary word would make sense when it was paired with another.

Ron looked over towards Harry and nudged Hermione, moving her gaze from Fred’s tombstone and followed Ron’s gaze. Nodding at Ron, she headed towards Harry, whose body was shaking slightly as he stood alone. Patting George on the shoulder, Ron headed over to Hermione whose hands covered her mouth as she tried unsuccessfully not to cry. Ron quickened his pace towards her, and wrapped both arms around her once he reached her.

None of them could have come here alone, he knew that much, and none of them should have, and none of them needed to. The point that he was trying to get across to George, and the point which Hermione was attempting to make this morning and then again only half an hour or so ago, was that none of them could do this together and none of them needed too. Each of them relied on each other, and as Hermione buried her head in Ron’s chest, Ron looked over to George, who was standing beside Ginny, his hand resting on Ginny’s shoulder as she knelt down to place a wreath on Sirius’ grave.

So much death had taken place in each of their lives, but the one constant they had was each other. What George wasn’t used to was actually needing them, he had had always had Fred by his side, but not anymore, and he needed his family as much as they needed him.

Wiping the tears off his own face with his spare hand, Ron kissed Hermione lightly on the top of her head. As she listened to his heartbeat, she felt his arms around her and breathed him in, the tears came less frequently and her breathing slowed. Raising her head she slipped her hand into Ron’s as they walked towards the others.

“We should see Teddy tomorrow.” Ginny said, as Hermione and Ron approached. The others nodded in agreement, they hadn’t seen him lately, they were busy and preoccupied, and now they were exhausted, Ron and George especially. No one said it, but they all knew it was time to go. The air was thick with emotions, as air in cemeteries often are. They all felt the love lost and the pain felt, and the air was starting to suffocate them again. This cemetery wasn’t creepy, it was just too overwhelming, they needed to go back home, where they weren’t surrounded by the dead, just the memories of them.

**...**

This time on their way out of the cemetery Harry walked next to Ron, who had his arm wrapped around Hermione, while Ginny hung back with George, none of them speaking, all of them too wrapped up in their own thoughts to say anything.

“We sho…” Harry started as he looked over a Ron, a grin forming on his face.

“I think we should.” Ron answered back straight away, cutting over him, knowing just what he meant. He didn’t care that he was exhausted, he knew what Harry was thinking, and he knew he wanted to do it.

“What?” Hermione asked, looking towards Harry, completely confused by Harry and Ron’s lack of conversation, that they seemed to be understanding perfectly.

“It will be…” Ron started, after glancing down at his watch.

“We can…” Harry cut across him, already knowing what Ron had intended to say.

“Yeah, we’ll..” Ron interrupted. He didn’t notice the scowl growing on Hermione’s face. She hated when they got like this, she usually did it, but she would leave the uncompleted sentences and then rush off, she hated it when they finished each other’s sentences mentally and said something else, while she was at a total loss. They did it more often than she would like, but when she wasn’t annoyed by it, she loved it.

“After.” Harry said, smiling at Ron. This was just what he needed, and he had missed it so much. Sure he was tired, they were all tired, but that didn’t matter, his body could ache in the morning, tomorrow was irrelevant right now.

“What?” Hermione asked, hitting Ron lightly when Ron and Harry looked towards her grinning, remembering how much she hated when they did that. It was small moments like this that made everything easier, small moments when they were smiling and teasing, and just being normal, that gave them the ability to get over the bad. Ron kissed Hermione lightly on the lips as Harry laughed,  glad that his best friends hadn’t changed too drastically.

“I was just thinking that we should..” Ginny said as George and her caught up Harry, Hermione and Ron who had stopped in the middle of the pavement whilst they talked.

“Play Quidditch?” Suggested George, as a small smile began to twitch at the corner of his mouth.

“That’s what we were just saying!” Harry exclaimed, grinning at Ginny. Nobody seemed to care that they had played for hours already today, or that the darkness was coming, as the sun was steadily sinking. Dinner would be ready soon, but as Harry and Ron were saying, they could just tell Molly to save them some food and they could eat when they got back.

“Seriously?” Ginny asked, her smile growing. Her arms were already slightly sore but that didn’t matter, she would be up on her broom, throwing and catching, yelling and laughing, the wind cold on her face as she speed over the ground, everything except the quaffle and the speedy bludger ignored.

“That’s what you were saying!” Hermione looked from Ron and Harry incredulously, she never would have guessed that.

“You keen then?” George persisted, as Ron kissed Hermione on her forehead and Harry whispered something to Ginny, which made her laugh.

“Definitely.” Harry agreed, as Ginny nodded beside him and Ron grinned. Hermione suppressed a groan, she loved playing it, but she was tired and she would rather watch Ron annihilate Harry in chess before playing gobstones.

“You get the stuff, I’ll tell Mum, meet you in the field in a few.” George instructed, speaking mainly to Ginny, before closing his eyes and disappearing in front of them.

Harry and Ginny disapparated straight away and Ron unwrapped his arm from around Hermione, ready to apparate when she spoke.

“I think I’ll just read. Then the teams will be even.” Hermione said as she placed her hand in Ron’s and smiled up at him.

“It doesn’t ma…” Ron started.

“I want to.” Hermione insisted, taking a step closer to Ron.

“Well in that case, what book?” Ron replied, smiling down at Hermione before kissing her again. It still amazed him that he could kiss her, that he could tell her that he loved her, and she would kiss him back and tell him that she loved him. Part of it didn’t feel real, but then again after everything horrible that happened, there had to be some good. As their kiss ended he couldn’t help but keep thinking.

“What are you thinking about?” Hermione whispered as she looked into Ron’s eyes and found him somewhat distant. She loved been this close to him, feeling his arms wrapped around her, and in turn having her hands resting against his chest.

“How perfect you are.” Ron replied, grinning at her as she felt her cheeks flush. Ron went to say something else but Hermione shut him up by kissing him quickly before she stepped back from him.

“Beat you there.” Hermione smirked playfully before disapparating in front of her, the sound of her laughter dimmed by the sound made from her apparating. Ron grinned and shut his eyes, leaving Godric’s Hollow behind.


	23. Fine

The moon was high in the sky, and the sun had long since disappeared. They had spent two hours whizzing above the ground, shouting and yelling, George and Ginny on one team, Harry and Ron on the other. Hermione leant against a tree, different from one that Ron had fallen asleep against that afternoon, reading a wizarding book that Ginny had lent her along with a few others.  She looked up every so often, and cheered them on but mostly lost herself in the pages. After their stomachs had won out they headed back to the Burrow, reheated their dinner and spread across the lounge.

“Well that was delicious.” Harry commented and the room murmured in agreement. They had all eaten far too much but that didn’t matter, they had had a pretty hectic day.

“Exploding snap?” George suggested, not ready to go to bed yet, but too tired to stand up and actually do anything. George and Ron were still working on little sleep, and Ron who had had even less than him was surprisingly not as tired as he had expected, but he knew the tiredness would hit him.

“Dishes first.” Ron moaned as he stood up from the couch and flicked his wand, stacking the plates and sending them into the kitchen ahead of him.

“I’ll help.” Ginny said hurriedly, Harry was about to volunteer but she didn’t want that, she had a plan. Flicking her wand, she sent the rest of the dishes into the kitchen and followed Ron, letting the door swing shut behind her.

“Do you ever get the feeling that this isn’t over yet, well not you specifically, but us all. That there should be more for us to do?” Ron started. Ginny had been waiting to speak to him all through the Quidditch game and had patiently waited all through dinner, and now that she had cornered him, wanting to broach the subject, he had spoken first. She had stopped Harry from volunteering to talk to Ron, and now he was rambling on a totally unrelated subject, typical. Ginny had heard Hermione and him talking in the garden before they went to Godric’s Hollow, she wanted to talk to Ron about what she knew to be true.

“Well a little but…” Ginny replied, caught off guard, this was not how she expected this conversation to begin. There had been so much yelling, too much yelling for one day, but there hadn’t been much yelling since it all happened, and the house felt odd without the bickering.

“But then immediately afterwards you are reminded that everybody dies anyway so what is the point in us doing anymore.” Ron continued, completely ignoring Ginny, as he filled the sink up with water and stared out of the window, unsure of why he was talking at all, wondering when the rest of the family would be home from work, they always seemed to be there at the moment.

“I really don’t think...” Ginny tried to interrupt him, to steer this conversation to where she wanted it to go. She was already regretting volunteering to do the dishes with him, she didn’t mind doing the dishes, it was just that that wasn’t her reason to do them. Had she known he would be talking like this she would have begun by surprising him with what she had overheard.

“Dad, Charlie, Bill and Percy are at work most of the day and some of the night, they are there all the time. And we are at home, playing Quidditch, bickering and going to visit Fred. Shouldn’t we be doing more? But then if we did more, we could save some people maybe, or just make their lives better but they will ultimately die anyone. I mean have you read the paper lately, or listened to the radio? It’s not getting any bloody better fast! It’s not getting worse, how could it get possible worse than it was, touch wood, but still.” Ron rambled on, his eyes still fixed to the starry sky, wishing that Remus wasn’t dead, that Tonks was still alive and that Fred was laughing in the living room, setting up exploding snap with the others.

“Ron you’re..” Ginny began, oblivious to Ron’s actual stream of thoughts.

“But what is the point of it all? There is no point Ginny, there is…” Ron asked, his voice faltering as he saw Fred dying in front of him again, all because his eyes strayed and he saw that damn clock that was missing a hand.

“For Merlin’s sake stop. There has been too much yelling in the bloody house of late! You had your yelling thing this morning, then we all yelled, but enough is enough.” Ginny yelled, she knew that yelling about not yelling wasn’t the best way to do it, but she was exhausted and didn’t want to shout anymore. She also knew that Ron wasn’t actually yelling in the first place but that didn’t matter to her.

“You don’t…” Ron started, gearing up to yell back at her.

“SHUT UP, SHUT UP… SHUT UP!” Ginny yelled at him, they were listening from the living room no doubt but that didn’t matter, she didn’t care. She also didn’t seem surprised that while she yelled Ron and her were washing, drying and putting away the dishes, without even really noticing it.

“I will..” Ron said as he stopped scrubbing for a moment and stared at her.

“There is a reason I made sure I moved our wands back into the living room Ronald.” Ginny said curtly as she smirked at Ron while she put away the dry bowls.

“Well aren’t you clever Ginevra.” Ron snapped back as he roughly handed her a soapy glass.

“You need to..” Ginny started in a softer tone, her glare diminishing.

“I need to what Ginny? Do you magically have all the answers? A potion perhaps, or maybe a spell, or did you read it in some muggle magazine.” Ron snapped, he wasn’t in the mood to be lectured, he had a very long day, and he hadn’t slept properly in far too long.

“There are no answers for this!” Ginny exclaimed, she agreed with Ron, she did, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t check for answers anyway, that she didn’t strain her brain, trying to think of anything that she had read or seen anywhere that could make this better, make any of this better.

“You just… wait, yes, exactly!” Ron started, hesitated for a moment as he realised what Ginny had said and softened his expression, he had run out of things to wash and was draining the sink as he watched her.

“But that doesn’t mean that you have to act like such an abominable twat all the time. People are worried about you!” Ginny tried not to shout but she ended up yelling anyway.

“Worried about me!” Ron shouted incredulously as he dried a mug and placed it on the shelf.

“Yes!” Ginny exclaimed, starting to get annoyed with how bloody thick he was being. She angrily placed the plates in the cupboard, slammed the door shut and draped her soaking wet tea towel over the bench.

“I’M FINE!” Ron shouted, trying to get her to see, but not believing it for himself. He didn’t want to bring up her nightmares as a way to change the subject, but he might, he knew he might if they kept fighting, and he would regret it, so he hoped he would be able to control himself.

“Really?” Ginny persisted, raising her eyebrow as she watched his expression carefully, pushing away the thoughts of how much she was starting to sound like her mother.

“YES!” Ron exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration.

“Really?” Ginny repeated.

“Would you two hurry it up, we are waiting for you to start.” George said as appeared in the door frame, frightening both Ron and Ginny, neither of him heard him approaching or saw him watching for the last minute or so.

“Bloody h..” Ron started as he stared as his brother, he was glad for the interruption he didn’t want to say something he would regret later, but Ginny wasn’t half done yet. She thought she had covered it this morning, but obviously that was not the case.

“Okay shut up both of you, I thought we sorted this all out this morning. But clearly I was wrong. There will be no more yelling of this kind in this house! You can scream all you want at me if I turn all your stuff pink again Ron, or I remove all of your hair Ginny, yell and shout about the trivial crap, but not this.” George yelled, he didn’t want to yell, but he would yell if he needed to and now it was needed.

“That is..” Ginny started, glaring at George now, Ron appreciated the change.

“I never said bottle it all up inside until you explode like this family is prone to doing.” George explained, looking pointedly at Ron while Ginny’s expression softened as he continued. He paused for a moment and looked at them both sternly before adding, “Now don’t make me do this again, I don’t like my voice like this!”

“Ron is having nightmares!” Ginny yelled, part of her wanted to do what George had said, but it would be best if they did most of their yelling today, so it was best to declare what she knew to be true now, on a day already so full of yelling. Plus she wanted to win this fight.

“WHAT?” George shouted, as he turned away from Ginny and stared at Ron. After his little speech he didn’t want to shout at Ron, but he felt like he was going to.

“How the bloody hell do you know that?” Ron asked Ginny, shocked that she knew but also somewhat intrigued. He looked pointedly away from George, not wanting to feel guilty for not telling him.

“Ron!” George yelled, this was not what he wanted to discuss. He didn’t care how the hell Ginny knew, he wanted to know why he didn’t know, why Ron didn’t tell him but it only took him another second to realise why.

“I overheard you and Hermione. Did you tell anyone?” Ginny answered Ron, ignoring George as well, but was glad that she wasn’t the one outraged that her brother didn’t tell her.

“Wait what?” George exclaimed, looking desperately from Ron and Ginny, wondering how he had missed it. Ron had fallen asleep in his room more than once and he hadn’t noticed nightmares, but then he did think that Ron might have them soon, and seemingly he was right.

“Hermione found out today and she is pissed, and Harry doesn’t know I’m sure of it, and I didn’t know and judging from your expression you didn’t know either.” Ginny said, addressing George whose glare subsided, Ron hadn’t actually told anyone, which made him more mad at Ron for keeping it to himself like he had specifically wanted George not to do.

“Well he knows now.” Ron muttered as he looked towards the door, no doubt Harry had heard everything that Ginny had said, and was now sitting and discussing it with Hermione, which was precisely what he didn’t want to happen, he didn’t want them to worry, and now they were worrying.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” George asked, watching Ron carefully, trying to assess if there was anything else that Ron was keeping secret from the others and he was also attempting to figure out what Ron’s nightmares were about.

“Really George?” Ginny stared at George, not understanding why George was so shocked. She knew that Hermione and her had nightmares but she didn’t know that Ron did, and now part of her was thinking that Harry could be having nightmares, Hermione didn’t know about Ron’s so maybe Harry was keeping them secret as well.

“Ron!” George yelled, as Ron stood there in silence, his gaze drawn to the window, his mind wandering through his memories.

“I was… hell… I wasn’t going to tell you, you both have enough to worry about, they will sort themselves out soon enough.” Ron replied, ignoring both their glares as he kept his gaze fixed on the window, he couldn’t look at either of them right now.

“For Merlin’s sake Ron.” Ginny muttered.

“What do you see?” George asked in a low voice.

“A moon an… you mean in my nightmares.” Ron started, thinking the question odd but then he realised what George meant. He didn’t want to answer, he didn’t want to tell them.

“Yeah genius.” George breathed. Behind Ron, Hermione and Harry stood watching them all, Ginny noticed them approaching but had made sure to keep her expression unchanged and George was too focussed of Ron to notice.

“Oh.” Ron answered, his eyes still fixed on the window, oblivious to Harry and Hermione’s presence.

“Ron what do you see?” Ginny said quietly, wanting to take a step forward but not wanting to move, she knew that Ron was about to say something and she didn’t want him not too. So much had become apparent today.

“Time makes everything harder Ginny not easier. I wish I could remember more, but I forget. I don’t even see him in my dreams, nor do I see him in my nightmares. The only memories I have of him that are distinct are of him dying, and I see it all through the day but never at night.” Ron answered, his voice quiet but clear. It was clear that he was talking about Fred from the expression on his face as his gaze moved from the window and fell on Ginny. He hadn’t answered her question, he didn’t want to not yet at least. The room went silent for a moment before Ginny stepped towards him.

“I see him.” Ginny said quietly before adding, “I see all of you die in a new way, each time its different, sometimes I know it’s not real, but sometimes I don’t, it’s hard to tell.”

“I don’t see what happened at the Manor.” Hermione began, her words alerting Ron and George of her presence in the room. They quickly turned to face her, Ron wondering how much they had both heard. “I feel it. Each time I feel it worse than before, most of it is the same, the pain, the knife, the smell but there are a few details altered.”

“Everybody dies in a different way. But it’s worse than that, its slow, its painful and Fred dies over and over again, each time its more drawn out.” George whispered. Hermione and Harry watched George with curious expressions while Ginny looked over a Ron, sending him ‘you had better bloody well start telling me things’ look.

“Unlike you two liars, I don’t actually get nightmares.” Harry said with a small smile, “Now that’s enough heart to hearts, let’s get some Butterbeer and some chocolate and play exploding snap.”

The others laughed and George grabbed the Butterbeers while Hermione flicked her wand, sending a large block of chocolate into her hand. Harry and Ginny walked out of the kitchen, Harry draping his arm over her shoulder before kissing her, George groaned loudly and Ginny kissed Harry more passionately, making sure to block George’s path.


	24. By Chance

Darkness may be where evil hides, but with the lights in the living room dim and no light seeping through the window, only a dark world outside, they played on happily. Forgetting their worries, forgetting that anything else existed they played, they won and they lost. Time went far too fast, and before they knew it Ron was almost asleep, his head dropping from his hands every few minutes was one of the only things keeping him awake.

“Let’s go to bed.” Hermione placed her cards down on the table and moved out of Ron’s arms as she went to stand up.

“One more hand.” Ginny pleaded, she wasn’t ready for this to end. For the last three or so hours they hadn’t bickered, and none of them had the felt the need to do so. They teased Harry after he got cocky for winning three times in a row, and they cheered when Hermione finally won a round. It was simple and simplicity was lacking from their lives of late.

“You said that, an hour and a half ago.” Hermione replied, pausing to look at the clock on the way, before she took a last sip of Butterbeer. Her whole body was tired, but her exhaustion was nothing compared to how Ron and George were feeling. Their brains were in the process of shutting down altogether, their bodies ached and they just wanted to crawl up into a ball and sleep.

“But..” Ginny started to protest, ignoring her tiredness, she widened her eyes a little, hoping to get what she wanted.

“Goodnight.” Ron cut her off as he stood up. Holding his hand out to Hermione, she placed her hand in his and allowed herself to be pulled off the ground. Smiling at Ginny, Hermione squeezed Ron’s hand and walked out of the room up the staircase, pleased that she could finally have some alone time with Ron. She was exhausted, and so was he, she saw how he moved a little slower up the stairs as usual. She noticed how he winced when he moved while they were playing, and how he tried not to let it show. She also noticed how George had done the same, what the hell were the up to yesterday, she thought to herself.

“I’m going to head off now too.” George said as Hermione and Ron disappeared. He was tired too, but he didn’t want to be the first to go. The day had been so long, far too long. All he wanted to do was to sleep, knowing that he was far too tired to have dreams, good or bad. There had been so much yelling throughout the day, and he had barely slept the night before.

“But Geo…” Ginny started, she knew that if George left Harry would insist they went to bed too, but if George was still here, she could use George’s presence as an excuse for them not to leave themselves. She wanted to play another hand, she wanted to be lost in the simplicity of the game, to forget everything else, or at least some of it, it was impossible to forget it all.

“I’m exhausted too.” George cut across Ginny, not wanting to argue with her, he just wanted to sleep. “And so are you.” He added as he slowly rose from the ground, still feeling a small pain in his side from Ron and his adventure yesterday, two days ago, he corrected himself as he looked down at his watch. He gave them both a smile before he left the room, walking slowly up the staircase, grateful that he couldn’t hear his mother crying, glad that Arthur had arrived home just after they started playing and was already asleep in bed.

Percy and Charlie would be over some time tomorrow George knew that much, and he was desperately hoping it would be for dinner, or afternoon tea at the earliest, he wanted to sleep in and he deserved to. Brushing his teeth quickly he headed to his room, shutting the door behind him before he waved his wand quickly at his bed. If Ron decided to check in on him, it would look like George was asleep in bed, at home in the Burrow. Not out. Grabbing his pillow off his bed, he closed his eyes and disapparated.

**...**

He didn’t need to open his eyes to know where he was, he could smell it, it smelt like home. It smelt like chemicals, like explosions, like Fred. George was alone, he no longer needed to put up a front, he could be himself, his new self. Who he had become when he had lost his other half, the only thing was he still hadn’t figured out who that was. Opening his eyes, his pillow fell to the floor and he staggered backwards.

Hitting his back against the door, he inhaled sharply, it didn’t feel like this when he had been here with Ron, maybe it was seeing it in darkness, maybe he was just over tired or maybe he just felt overwhelmingly alone. The air around him felt hot, crowded, as though this empty apartment was trying to strangle him as he slid down the door, his feet still firmly planted on the floor as his face dropped into his palms.

Even with his view blocked, he still felt sick, all around him was their apartment, their home, the life that the two of them had built together, full of laughter and ambition. All around him, he could smell their experiments, the chemicals filled his lungs as he kept breathing, reminding him of everything they had done together, of every time they had laughed, and argued. Why did it have to be like this?

Acid shot up his throat as the memories returned, the flashing lights, the screaming, the fighting, the laughter on Fred’s tongue. Then it came, the smile frozen on his lips, the silence, the unbearable silence, no further sound would leave Fred, no further joke, no further insult, nothing.

Silence. That silence, the never ending silence had turned this apartment into a prison.

“NO!” George yelled as he stood up off the floor, not entirely sure why he was yelling. There was nobody there to hear him, the whole apartment was virtually non-existent to anyone down in the alley. From the outside you couldn’t see or hear anything, only the outline of the seemingly windowless apartment.

“NO!” He yelled again, as tears coursed down his face, he could barely see anything, as he upended the coffee table and shouted. His voice echoed around the empty apartment, which made him yell louder as he threw books out of the bookcase before upending it. He threw the pillows off the couch at the wall, but they barely made a thud as they hit the wall or the floor, he wanted to hear them crack as they broke. George needed hard objects, he needed things to break, fracture like he was, split like he did, shatter just as he had.

As a small statue broke, sending grey shards everywhere he screamed louder as the memory resurfaced. All he saw now was Fred’s headstone, he had seen Fred only a few hours ago, and it wasn’t this bad, but he wasn’t alone like he was now. With Ron and Ginny, Harry and Hermione he had managed, but alone in his apartment falling to pieces like that statue he couldn’t.

He couldn’t talk to Fred, he was gone. It was over. If he had felt sick before, that was nothing compared to now, now his entire world was spinning. So many memories were formed here, mainly good ones, but horrific memories, memories of the war, of the battle were louder and clearer than the good ones. Drowning them out until they were too hard to recall, and George was sinking to the bottom along with the good memories, submerged in the horror, but wasn’t that always the way?

His tiredness was forgotten as he threw everything at walls, to the floor, not bothering with his wand, that he had unknowingly dropped along with his pillow, which was probably for the best. He screamed as he threw, letting his voice grow hoarse as he surrendered to his emotions, as he let himself feel. Feel everything that he had locked inside himself. His hand hovered over the picture frame and his breath caught in his chest as he stopped. He stopped screaming, he stopped throwing, his legs finally gave up on him and he feel to the floor. Surrounded by his mess, his anger, his sorrow, his emotions.

Taking a shuddering breath he wiped his eyes with his free hand and stared down at the frame in his hand. It was Ginny’s first year at Hogwarts, and they were all dressed in their robes, a few days before school, Harry was there too. The twins were in one corner teasing Percy, Ginny was smiling brightly as she readjusted her robes and blushed when she met Harry’s eyes as he looked up from his whispered conversation with Ron. They all looked so happy, how were they to know what would come.

His grip loosened and the picture fell to the floor as he slowly rose from the ground and headed towards his pillow, leaning over to pick it and his wand off the floor. With a flick, he sent everything back to its proper place, all in one piece. His eyes glanced over at his bedroom door, and he knew he couldn’t go in. His exhaustion was flooding back, his emotions were being drowned out as his need to sleep took over, leaving his body numb once again.

Collapsing on the couch, he placed his wand on the reassembled coffee table and pulled the blanket over him as he shut his eyes. The only perk of being so exhausted was that he wouldn’t have to lay awake thinking about Fred, or worrying about his siblings, worrying about himself. There was no need for a sleeping potion tonight, lying alone in his dark apartment sleep took him immediately. It took him to a place without dreams, just darkness, no memories, no emotions, just oblivion.

**...**

Back in the Burrow Harry and Ginny lay side by side, asleep in bed, Ginny’s nightmares kept at bay as she dreamt about Quidditch and smiled in her sleep. Beside her Harry was dreaming of a picnic, Hermione and Lily were sitting with their feet in the water laughing loudly as George, Fred, Ron, Ginny, Sirius, Lupin, James, Cedric, Charlie, Bill and him played Quidditch, soaring above the ground as they played, all alive, all happy, all together.

In Ron and Harry’s room, Hermione lay sound asleep, Ron’s arm draped over her as she dreamt of her parents in Diagon Alley, more of a memory less of a dream, it was second year and they were buying supplies, as they meet the Weasley’s. Hermione could still remember how even though her parents were out of place and bewildered, their faces lit up as she laughed along with her friends, and chatted easily to Ginny who she had never met before. Behind her, still awake despite his tiredness, Ron lay, not wanting sleep to take him, not ready for his inevitable nightmares.

It was only by chance that Ron saw light flash outside of the Burrow through the open curtain. At first, he thought his tired mind was teasing him, but then he saw it again, and he knew he wasn’t imagining it. In a house of closed eyes, Ron was the only one who saw. He knew what was coming next, he had to wake them.

It was only by chance that he heard George disapparating hours ago.

It was only by chance that Ron was still awake at 2am.

Or else it would be too late.

He couldn’t lose anyone else.

None of them could.

Not today.


	25. No Mercy

One moment her mother was discussing Muggle money with Arthur and the next Ron’s hands were on her shoulders shaking her awake with a distraught look on his face and two wands in his hand. For a split second she thought he had just woken up from a nightmare and then she realised she was in one. Ron ripped the blankets back and pushed Hermione’s wand, a pair of jeans and a jumper into her hands before pulling on his jeans himself, slipping on his shoes and running to Ginny’s room.

Smacking the door against the wall when he barged in, Ginny and Harry were already dressed, with Harry tying on his shoes as Ginny pulled her hair up into a quick ponytail, knowing that it getting in her face could cost her a second of view that she didn’t have to lose. Ron had sent an ear splitting warning into their and his parents room barely a minute ago. A warning that only the four of them would hear, and those outside of the Burrow wouldn’t be able to, they still had the element of surprise, which the outsiders were still under the pretence that they had. With a flick of her wand, Hermione made sure that none of the lights in the house would be turned on as Arthur sent a patronus to his other sons and also to Kingsley, they needed to find out what was going on and fast. Arthur somehow knew that the attack on the Burrow would not be a stand-alone attack, there would be others, how many he had no idea, but he knew that the remaining death eaters wouldn’t remain idle for long, it was only a matter of time.

Harry opened his mouth to ask Ron something when he disapparated in front of his eyes. Having no time to ask where he was going he stood up and grabbed his wand before he followed Ginny out of the room, and down the staircase, with Hermione following closely behind them. None of them were going to leave, this was their home and they wouldn’t let it be destroyed, not again. They had all lost enough, they weren’t going to lose anything else, or anybody else.

As the three of them reached the kitchen, they found Arthur with his head in the fire and Molly standing firm as she peaked out of the window, her face like stone. Outside the deatheaters encircled their home, breaking through the defences that had been put up. It didn’t really matter why they were here, it didn’t matter what they wanted, it just mattered that they were here, and Harry wasn’t going to disarm them that’s for sure, he was long past disarming. After Remus and Tonks and Fred, after Sirius and his parents, the days of disarming were behind him. He wasn’t prepared to lose anybody else he loved, he had lost enough, he was going to fight for them and their home, enough was enough.

Crack!

Beside them George and Ron appeared, both of their faces set as they looked around the room, waiting, waiting for their defences to break, knowing that it would be soon. It wasn’t until Harry noticed the mud of Ron’s shoes and the blood on his bruised fist, that he realised George must not have been up in his room asleep. Ron would have had to apparate to the border of the defensive charms, step across and disapparate. Following Harry’s gaze Ron pulled his jumper sleeve down, and gave Harry a small smile, Harry knew he would have done the same thing. Hermione and Ginny looked over at Harry as he started to laugh.

A grin covered his face and he had eyes for Ron only when he said, “The advice you gave me about duelling with Malfoy in first year.” Ron grinned back at him as he remembered telling Harry that if his wand didn’t work he could just chuck it away and punch him, which is the option he had opted for tonight, knowing that flying curses in the dark would be a bit of a giveaway.

When Ron arrived in George’s living room he hesitated for a moment, George looked so peaceful as he lay sound asleep. Part of Ron wanted to leave him there, let him sleep, but he knew he would regret it if he did. He considered for a moment that he would regret waking him up, but somehow he knew that he wouldn’t. So here they were, all seven of them in the kitchen, wands in hand, and Arthur’s head in the fire. The light bleeding through the window told them that the defences were almost broken which meant that people would be piling in soon enough. Well not people, death eaters, out for some revenge before they were rounded up and stuffed into Azkaban.

Not a single word was uttered when Arthur pulled his head out of the fire and nodded at Molly, people were coming, they would be apparating all around them, but the look on Arthur’s face told them that they weren’t the only ones.

“You were one of the only people awake Ron. Wizarding households are waking up all over the place now to half broken defensive charms, thanks to your restless sleeping.” Arthur said in a quiet voice. At least 13 homes that he knew of were under attack, this was the death eaters last stand it seemed. They were fighting back while they still had the chance, and what better way to hit over a dozen homes at 2am, when only a few people were awake in them. Ron nodded as he listened, glad that for once his nightmares were actually a benefit not a burden.

“Whats the plan then?” Ginny asked as her hand tightened on Harry’s. She was used to this by now but that didn’t mean she liked it, although part of her missed it. The action, the running, the constant threat of death kept her alive. It kept her thinking, not about Fred, not about the others, but about surviving the immediate threats surrounding her. It kept her distracted and kept her alert.

“We fight.” George said in a low voice, his voice still hoarse from screaming only hours before. Those few hours of sleep were hopefully enough. He knew that he would discover new realms of exhaustion before he was able to sleep again, but now his anger was bubbling at the surface. There were death eaters outside, and he was ready to kill, he wanted to kill.

“Obviously.” Ginny answered. Harry and Ron kept their eyes on the window, aware that they had two minutes left at best. Closing his eyes Harry took a deep breath and tightened his grip on his wand as he prepared himself. The last two weeks he had been less reliant on magic, and he only dreamt about fighting, he desperately hoped it wouldn’t take long to get back into the swing of things, he couldn’t afford to be anything but fast, it wasn’t just his life on the line, it was all of theirs.

“Apparate to my apartment if you get into trouble.” George said as he flicked his wand, and waved it over each of them, making sure that all of them would be able to apparate in. It would be safer to go there to go to somewhere exposed, at least his place had four walls, three exits and protective charms. The others nodded and Ron signalled to his father that there wasn’t long until it was broken. Molly didn’t even bother telling them to leave, she knew that they wouldn’t and she was ready to give them hell herself. She had killed Bellatrix, she could kill again, and she would kill again.

“Go to the window and pick a person now.” Ron said, as the idea suddenly occurred to him. If they could get in, they could apparate out, they just had to be fast, very fast. “Soon as it breaks you apparate out and get them, but don’t apparate again, we don’t want another Dobby.”

“That’s brilliant.” Hermione said, not with a tone of surprise, but with a genuine smile, wondering why she hadn’t thought of it herself.

“That has been known to happen.” Ginny answered with a grin as Ron’s ears turned slightly red before he looked out the window again, and cleared his mind of all emotion, even anger. He couldn’t be distracted, he had to be determined.

“If or perhaps when you apparate to George’s stay there, don’t come back.” Harry instructed. They only had a few seconds left, each of them were staring out of the windows, their eyes focussed on their death eater, the first seven to be captured or killed, it could go either way.

“Three.” Ron whispered as Harry’s stomach tightened.

“Two.” Hermione breathed as George stretched out his fingers before wrapping them around his wand.

“GO!” Ginny screamed as the defences broke with a flash of purple light.

Four death eaters attempted to apparate into the house, not aware that it was under a separate charm, one that would be far more easily broken but separate all the same.

Those four remained where they were for a second before two of them were blasted off their feet as a Weasley apparated in front of them, both death eaters wore sneers on their mouths, until George flicked his wand quickly, the words Avada Kedavra screaming loudly in his head, as the death eater took a final breath.

Curses flashed all around the Burrow as bodies dropped, and people screamed. Flesh was torn open and blood spilled onto the ground, as Harry thought sectumsempra, as he noticed a familiar face in the ground. As Harry fired another curse, and a young mans screams filled the air, he couldn’t help but think of Bellatrix, wishing she could see him master this spell, he sure as hell meant it now.

There was no mercy here.

On either side.

Hermione wasn’t ready to kill, but she took no issue with seriously maiming people before she knocked them out. In death, the suffering would be quick, rotting in Azkaban would be long and torturous. Just as she had lifted the feather in first year, she uprooted a tree with a single flick and dropped it onto two unsuspecting death eaters, whose screams promptly filled the air as their bones snapped and their wands flew out of their grasps.

With each flick of his wand, Ron thought of Fred, he thought of his laughter as he made a death eater scream, he thought of his smile when he broke a jaw, he thought of his fireworks when he lit the tree Hermione had dropped on fire. He had no issue killing them, but he wanted them to suffer, and to suffer he would make their bodies convulse as they hovered in the air, snap their bones and knock them out, tied up and hanging from a tree, ready to be taken to Azkaban.

Molly’s lips pursed as she duelled with a death eater she hadn’t seen before. His face was quickly replaced with Bellatrix’s and Molly sent curse after curse, deflecting each one that came her way. His screams filled the air when her killing curse cut off his hand, his voice shattering the illusion that he was Bellatrix. Molly smiled sweetly at him before she knocked him out and turned to her next victim, wanting to send as many as she could to Azkaban.

Still outnumbered the Weasleys wasted no time in reducing the number of conscious death eaters. Catching Ginny’s movements out of the corner of his eye, Ron couldn’t be more pleased that she was on their side, and laughed when the first death eater that Ginny killed had told her only moments ago that he didn’t want to hurt such a pretty little girl. Ginny had no trouble fighting two full grown men at the same time, killing one, severing the leg off another before she knocked him out. There was no stopping her, she was alight with rage, her precision and power making her invulnerable.

The tears that had ran down George’s face only a few hours ago was long forgotten as he threw two death eaters against the burrow, parting their legs from their bodies before he showed some mercy and killed them. Another death eater tried to catch George off guard but found his skin slitting open as George hit him with sectumsempra with a subtle flick of his wand before moving onto a black haired sinister looking woman, who grinned at George. As she started to comment on how he felt to be the surviving twin, she didn’t get to finish as George removed her tongue from her mouth before causing her to convulse on the floor, letting her silent screams fill the air.

Re-enforcements for the death eaters were apparating all around them, but so were re-enforcements for the Weasley’s. Charlie gave a nod to Bill and they went at putting the protective charms back up, nobody else could apparate in and nobody could apparate out. Sure, the next wave of death eaters would be able to knock it down in a matter of minutes but even a second could save a life. Seven of them become eleven and then just as Charlie was putting the finishing touches on the charm, Hagrid made it twelve. He may have had a wand in hand but there wasn’t much he could do with it, so instead he knocked a brown haired man out by hitting him with considerable force against a tree. Hagrid wasn’t exactly there to fight, he had news for Arthur, news that couldn’t wait.


	26. No One

A calm rested over George as he savagely moved his arm, his wand an extension of his hand, killing and maiming with only a few simple words thought in his head. For a second he wondered what Fred would think of him he was there now, but then he remembered that didn’t matter, since he wasn’t. He never would be. And he knew that he would proud, proud that George was fearless in striking down the enemy. Fearless and merciless.

Around him, his family were firing curses at the death eaters, screams filling the air as Harry made a blonde convulse and Ginny separated a brunette’s arm hand from her wrist, letting her wand drop to the floor along with it. Hermione dropped a pot plant, crushing the legs of a death eater who was trying to hit Molly from behind, and the man let out a thud as he body fell, no time for a scream to escape his lips. Charlie was multitasking, deflecting any charm thrown his way along with trying to keep the protective charm up for a little while longer. Bill and Fleur stood back to back, protecting each other as they shot curses at the death eaters that surrounded them.

The death eaters had been too distracted to attempt to get into the burrow, and so far, a few half-hearted attempts to light it on fire had abysmally failed, and resulted in one death eater burning himself to death. This was due to Ginny lazily disarmed him, knowing there wasn’t a strong sense of community among these death eaters, so no one would put him out and without a wand he could do nothing but scream. The lack of community was clear to them and it was probably why the Weasley’s were winning so easily. Usually the death eaters worked together far better, but this was a last ditch effort to save themselves, they only cared about themselves and the ones that they personally cared for, they didn’t work well in a team.

Luna wasn’t even bothering with the fighting she was collecting the unconscious but alive death eaters and binding them up in the trees next to the ones that Ron had placed only minutes ago. Placing protective charms over them, so that the death eaters couldn’t collect them and take them, Luna looked up to see the protective charm break, and a whole flood of death eaters lunged forward.

“Go!” George yelled over at her, as he caught her expression out of the corner of his eye. Luna gave a small smile before she closed her eyes and disappeared. She didn’t mind the fighting, but she didn’t particularly enjoy it and if re-enforcements had arrived here, then her father may need her more than the Weasley’s did. George turned back to see a death eater fall to the floor in front of him, a spell frozen on his lips. Behind him stood Neville, a wand in his hand and a determined look on his face, George nodded at him and went back to fighting.

Curses flew through the air, the night sky lit green as the death eaters called more of their kind, the air was thick was screaming, their noses filled with the smell of blood and fire. Ron looked over at Harry and saw that he was noticeably wounded but he was still fighting, god his stubbornness would be the death of him. Stepping over the corpse of the death eater that Molly had killed seconds ago, Ron headed towards Harry, when out of the corner of his eye his saw his fathers white face as he spoke to the man, who was obviously Hagrid, in front of him.

That second of distraction was paid for dearly.

Although Ron wasn’t distracted, he gave only the illusion that he was. The death eater who stood behind him, following Ron’s gaze to Arthur and Hagrid, smirked before he threw a curse at Ron, thinking how wonderful it was that his mind was elsewhere, giving him the perfect opportunity to kill Ron. But before he could say the spell, Ron turned swiftly, his arm raising as he turned, firing a curse at the death eater, a bright green flash, hitting him in the middle of his chest, knocking him down, dead. Even from the corner of his eye Ron had recognised that death eater, and he didn’t want him to be sent to Azkaban, with the risk of escaping, he wanted him dead. He had killed dozens of Muggles and Muggle borns, and Ron didn’t want to give him the chance to do so again.

Upon reaching Harry, Ron threw a quick sectumsempra at the death eater he was duelling and scanned Harry’s body, noticing the tears in clothing and the blood running down his leg. Knocking out the person who walked up behind Ron, Harry raised a questioning eyebrow at Ron, not realising that he himself was bleeding, and was shocked at the amount of blood seeping out of Ron’s stomach, shoulder and leg.

“Shit.” Ron breathed as his gaze focussed behind Harry where Hermione and Ginny kneeled side by side before disapparating. He had only seen them for a second so it was impossible to decipher who was supporting who. “Hermione and Ginny are gone.” Ron said quickly to Harry, trying not to the think about what that meant before he focussed his eyes on the death eater that would soon raise his wand at his mother who was busy duelling with another.

Harry didn’t say anything in reply, but scanned the crowd. There were a few familiar faces, people he remembered fighting alongside him in the battle of Hogwarts, and he noticed that Ron and him were the youngest ones, Neville must have disapparated seconds ago, Harry didn’t even think for a second that his could be one of the bodies lying on the floor. His body stiffened as he felt a hand on his shoulder, before he realised a death eater wouldn’t rest their hand on his shoulder.

“Get Ron and George and go.” Arthur whispered urgently. They were no longer winning and he couldn’t bear to lose another son, Charlie and Percy had already gone, but that was to help out at another house. Hagrid had told him many things, along with the news that five of the 18 homes that were attacked were on fire, their occupants dead, eight of the homes, including the Burrow were winning when Hagrid delivered the news, but the others were losing. Kingsley had told Hagrid that it seemed as though almost every single surviving death eater was fighting, all of them attacking the 13 homes that still stood, they were fighting to the death, they didn’t want to hide anymore.

Harry knew that he couldn’t argue, and nor did he want to. He nodded at Arthur before fighting his way over to George, suddenly more aware of his injuries, each step sent pain through his body. Firing a curse at a death eater to his right he didn’t have time to deflect the spell that was shot at him on the left. He felt the numbness spread over his leg, and blindly sent a sectumsempra to his left. Which judging by the screams and smell of blood that filled the air, he hit his mark.

“We need to go.” Ron breathlessly, urging George as he pointed over Harry who was grasping his leg, still trying to get to George and deflect curses at the same time. George knocked another death eater unconscious, snapped their wand in half, and bound their legs together before following Ron, who was making his way over to Harry. Ron was stepping in between the unconscious bodies of the death eaters and the people fighting on his side, he didn’t dare to look down, he didn’t want to see a face to recognise, he just couldn’t.

As Ron and George reached Harry, Harry quickly put a small protective charm around them, as the clasped each others arms and closed their eyes, leaving the yelling and the fighting behind them as they disapparated to George’s flat. Harry didn’t want to risk a death eater cursing them as they disapparated, and with the help of the protective charm that faded as soon as they arrived at George’s flat, none of them were injured while apparating, but they still had plenty other injuries to deal with.

Opening their eyes, the three of them looked around George’s bedroom. George had no desire to be in this room, but he knew that if someone was in the apartment, someone who shouldn’t be, then they would expect them to arrive in the living room or the kitchen. George flicked his wand quickly and his face fell.

“What?” Harry asked as he lowered himself onto George’s bed, clutching his leg. Beside him, Ron was slumped against the wall, biting down on his lower lip as his hands covered his stomach, in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

“There’s no one here.” George said quietly, not quite believing it, but knowing that the spell couldn’t have been wrong, there was no way that it would be wrong.

“Okay.” Harry said slowly, not understanding what George was meaning, his mind was preoccupied with the pain that was spreading over his body.

“There is NO ONE here!” George yelled at them both, not understanding why both of their faces looked so blank. Ron and Harry exchanged a glance, trying to read each others expression when it occurred to them both.

“Ginny? Hermione!” They yelled in unison, Harry raising from the bed and Ron pushing himself off the wall and wrapping his arm around Harry helping him to stand.

“There is NO ONE...” George started to yell as the two of them took a step towards the door.

“HERE we know. You said that already. So where the hell are they?” Ron snapped. Yanking open the door, the three of them walked into the living room, their eyes scouring the room, focussing on the bloody handprint on the table and the pool of blood on the floor that was smudged by footprints. George flicked his wand again and sighed with relief.

“We haven’t been breached. The defences are secure.”  George said quietly, smiling to himself. This was good news, although beside him Harry and Ron didn’t seem all that relieved by this new information.

“Well that’s brilliant, where the bloody hell are they?” Ron asked, turning to his brother as best he could, still supporting Harry as he glared at George, not mad at him, just feeling the need to glare at something, at somebody.

“They left by choice, they weren’t forced.” George explained, the adrenaline leaving his body he slowly began to feel the pain that spread down his arm, he wasn’t injured as badly as Harry or Ron but that didn’t mean that he didn’t need help.

“Of course.” Harry said quietly as it dawned on him.

“What?” Ron asked, only just hearing him as Harry’s head was resting against his. He was beginning to feel rather dizzy, and was trying not to sway as he supported Harry.

“St Mungo’s.” Harry said, the others were hurt, just the same as they were. As the thought of needing a first aid kit popped into his head, he knew that Hermione and Ginny had apparated to St Mungo’s.

“Of course.” George replied. Without a second of hesitation, he grabbed Harry and Ron’s arms and they closed their eyes before disapparating to St Mungo’s.

Clutching their wands tightly, they opened their eyes, preparing for chaos, before the let the calm of St Mungo’s sink in as they stepped inside. Nothing was destroyed, no one was screaming, St Mungo’s was the same as it always was, unsettling.

“You’re here for Miss Weasley and her friend?” A woman asked as her eyes swept over the three of them, taking in flaming red hair and speaking before she assessed their injuries. They were Weasley’s alright, she knew who they were, and she knew that they wouldn’t accept treatment until she had taken them to their friends, their family.

“Follow me.” She said before they had a chance to answer her, with a flick of her wand she conjured a wheelchair for Harry but he shook his head and slowly stepped forward, all of his weight on Ron. The woman nodded, sent the wheelchair away and headed into the lift. They stood in silence as they stood side by side in the lift, Ron focussing on the lift doors, Harry focussing on the floor and George focussing on the two of them.

Stepping out of the lift, she led them down a corridor, having to move far slower than the four of them wanted, with Harry wincing in pain with every step, but still too stubborn to accept a wheelchair, he had to see them first, he had to make sure they were okay.

“They’re in here.” She said quietly as she flicked her wand, opening the door before she turned away and quickly headed back down the corridor, she was a healer and she had patients to see, but she had promised Ginny that she would find her family, and she kept her promises.

White walls.

Blank faces.

Hermione and Ginny looked peaceful as they lay still, their eyes closed as a healer worked on each of them, their beds barely a metre a part. The two healers were chatting quietly to each other as they dressed the girls wounds.

“They’re alive.” Ron breathed, a brief smile spreading across his face. The healers turned to the three of them, George, Ron and Harry filed into the room, smiles of relief spreading across their faces. Harry unwrapped his arm from around Ron and allowed Ron to lower him slowly into the chair by the door as he grinned, knowing they were both alive. Ron gave George a quick hug before he took a step forward, needing to be closer to Ginny and Hermione. Ron took another step forward before he felt something change, he stopped where he was, and felt his body droop.

Before he knew it the world went black, his world went black and he hit the floor.


	27. Awake

Ron was slowly waking up, his mind beginning to form coherent thoughts as his toes began to twitch and he tried to stay asleep for a few moments longer. Breakfast could wait he thought, his mind telling him that he was at home in bed, but it didn’t smell like home, this place smelt of potions and blood, or sweat and tears. His eyes still shut Ron felt the bed beneath him, his pillow was far too soft, and the sheets underneath him were scratchy and cold where his body did not reside, but the blankets on top of him were keeping him warm. Suddenly it hit Ron, not the memory, not yet, but the pain. He could feel it all over him. His legs ached, his throat burned, his arms felt far heavier than usual and his whole stomach and chest were splattered with pain. For a second he wasn’t sure whether or not he could breath, but then he took a small shuddering breath, and felt the pain around him amplify and he tried not to move, as his brain whirred inside of his head.

Around him, everything was silent. He could hear whispering and mutterings somewhere distant, perhaps the hallway he considered, he was still half asleep, his mind was still busy processing where he was and what had happened, he wasn’t yet onto whoever was standing in the hallway or in another room, speaking in harsh voices and worried tones. His body ached, that was the only thing he could focus on, that and the sickly sweet taste lining his mouth.

“Shit.” Ron exclaimed as he eyes shot open, before squinting at the lamp that was switched on beside him. It was dark outside, it couldn’t still be dark thought Ron. He remembered, he remembered the fight outside his house, he remembered seeing the blood stains in George’s apartment, he remembered seeing Ginny and Hermione lying still in their beds. He remembered why his whole body ached and burned as he moved his hand only slightly, biting down on his tongue for a second he took another small breath that was equally as painful as the last, and tried to remember not to move again.

“Where are they? Are they okay?” Ron asked, his voice hoarse, as he tried not to yell. In the bed beside him lay Harry, a book in his hands and the blankets covering him. He was fine thank Merlin, Ron thought, one less person to worry about. The relief that Harry was okay barely sunk in, they weren’t winning anymore when he left the battle, his family weren’t here, and neither was Ginny nor Hermione, no one was here except for Harry in the bed beside him, that couldn’t mean anything good.

“How are you feeling?” George replied, startling Ron, who was oblivious to his presence in the room, his neck hurt, and as he suddenly realised he had a bandage covering his left eye. George ignored Ron’s questions as he slowly stood from his chair beside Ron’s bed, where he looked to have been sleeping. His wand abandoned in his chair, George poured Ron a glass of water before forcing Ron to drink it before Ron had time to reply. He moved his hand up to his eye before letting it fall back to the bed after it rose only a few centimetres above the covers, his arm was far too sore to move just yet.

Obligingly Ron drank the water, all of it, until the glass was empty and George placed the glass back down before collapsing into his chair again. Ron’s eyes scanned the room. The door was shut, there was no way for him to see into the corridor, and Molly and Arthur weren’t here, nobody else was, were they still fighting, Ron thought. Were they with Ginny and Hermione, Ron considered. Or were they dead or captured? That thought circulated around his brain for a few moments, and his mouth went dry as he tried to put any of what he was thinking into words.

“What the hell happened?” Ron asked, not able to contain the questions that were bubbling to the surface, he didn’t know the time let alone the day, he had no idea where Ginny and Hermione were, but he knew, he knew they had to be alive, they couldn’t possibly be dead, they simply couldn’t be. He felt exhausted, his body was painful and weighted, he had felt like he had slept for only a few minutes but looking around him he knew that wasn’t the case.

“You fainted, or collapsed, or something. They muttered something about severe exhaustion, teamed with blood loss and internal haemorrhaging or something, you were a bit touch and go for a while.” George answered. As he talked he scraped his hand over his face, his fingers hovering on his temple where a headache was brewing. For the millionth time in the past hour he wished that Fred was here with him. Obviously this hadn’t finished at the Battle of Hogwarts, the death eaters were still alive, so nothing would be over until they had had their say, but that didn’t mean that George was prepared for this, any of this. His little brother was lying in bed in front of him, a sight that he never wished to see.

“How long was out?” Ron asked, looking over to Harry whose book was now placed closed on the bed beside him, as Harry looked from Ron to George, a few stitches on his face and his body stiff.

“Almost 48 hours.” Harry answered. Simply the sound of his voice did wonders in grounding Ron. After everything, everything, he had had Harry, and Hermione, and Ginny and George, and just hearing Harry’s voice, and seeing the familiar thoughtful look in his eyes relaxed Ron before he absorbed what he had said. 48 hours? He had been out for almost two days. How? Then the thought dawned on him, it had been two whole days, what on earth had he missed?

“It’s 1:48am on Wednesday the 20th of May.” Harry added as Ron’s mouth opened. How could it be Wednesday morning already, that just wasn’t possible? He hadn’t been asleep for 48 hours, what had he missed, what had happened while he was sleeping, he couldn’t have been sleeping for so long, they should have waked him. Wouldn’t they have woken him if something bad had happened? Or would they let him sleep longer, so he would a few extra hours of apparent happiness before his entire reality was shattered.

“Don’t look like that, Harry only woke up about 6 maybe 5 hours ago.  I woke up about 13 hours ago, and have been by your sorry side for the past 9 hours.” George said, giving a small smile to Ron who was still staring at Harry and George, not believing that he had been asleep for so long. But then again it made sense, he hadn’t slept in so long. Maybe nothing dire had really happened, maybe Ron’s mind was simply spinning out of control, his brain not yet ready to be awake, still needing more sleep.

“What about..” Ron started, the words pushing themselves out of his mouth, he needed to know, that was all he could think about. He didn’t care how long he’d slept for, he needed to know how is little sister was, how Hermione was, he had to know.

“Merlin Ron. Ginny and Hermione are fine. Still sleeping, they are alive and fine, they should wake up in a few hours.” George answered, a smile growing on his face, reaching his eyes now. Relief flooded Ron’s face before it fading again, almost as quickly as it had appeared. Ginny and Hermione were fine, but George had been oddly specific, and he hadn’t revealed any information about anyone really. Ron felt cold, what had he missed? What was his big brother not telling him?

“What about everyone else?” Ron asked, he needed to know how they were. He was panicking, but the one thing that kept him in his bed, was the looks on Harry and George’s faces, they didn’t have tear stained cheeks, their voices didn’t shake when they spoke, obviously nothing shocking had happened, not yet at least. Neither of them was avoiding eye contact which was a good sign, but Ron knew that after a fight like that there had to be causalities. There just had to be.

“Some dead, some in here with us and others are fine.” George answered. He maintained eye contact with Ron as he spoke, as he gave Ron a comforting smile, to offset the panic that was forming in Ron as he absorbed what George was saying. He felt his body flood with relief again, but only for a moment.

“Some dead.” Ron breathed, some dead, he thought, some dead, who did that mean, who did that entail. Some dead, who dead? Was it his family, was he selfish for putting his loved ones ahead of others, was he a horrible person for wishing that his family was alive and inadvertently wishing that others loved ones were part of the ‘some dead’ pile? His eyes searchingly explored Harry’s face, trying to get an answer out of him, trying to establish who the ‘some’ were that George was referring to.

“We don’t know who yet, Molly and Arthur are at the ministry now.” Harry hurriedly added, he could tell that another dozen questions were forming in Ron’s eyes, because only a few hours ago he had been asking basically the same questions.

“They’re alive?” Ron breathed, not able to imagine the contrary, but still not quite believing that they were safe, although they couldn’t possibly not be. He couldn’t imagine it and he definitely didn’t want to, he had already lost more people than he could deal with, he couldn’t lose anyone else, but for that to happen someone else had to lose someone they loved. Ron’s stomach turned at the mere thought of some other poor bastard going through the pain he had felt when he lost Fred. Ron moved to press his hand against his mouth, but after raising his hand slightly up from the bed, he dropped it again and fell back on the pillows, shutting his eyes and breathing out deeply. His whole body ached, and the pain was flooding back to him, it had been there as soon he was awake, but it was no prominent now, and he wanted to be asleep again.

“Of course they bloody are. Bill, Charlie and Fleur are all fine too.” George answered. Giving Ron a look, he flicked his wand and poured Ron another glass of water, along with pouring one for Harry. One glass went to each and George nodded at the both of them.

“Hagrid?” Ron asked, after sculling the glass and putting it back on the table beside him. His whole body ached at the movement but he was thirsty, he was oh so thirsty, and as he dropped his arm back beside him he had to bite down on the inside of his cheek, not wanting to let the others know. Of course they would be hurt too, he had seen Harry when they came in, but he didn’t want the two of them to worry, he could already see the worry they wore on their faces, the weight on their shoulders, they didn’t need something else added to that. “They couldn’t kill him even if they...” Ron added, stopping abruptly.

“Tried?” Harry finished for him, his eyes staring at the wall, wondering when he would be able to see Ginny. When he would be able to see her and Hermione too, wondering when the Weasley’s would visit, wondering what was happening in the outside world, wondering how the rest of them were doing, wondering whether the dead had been buried yet, they were usually rather efficient with that sort of thing.

“And he’s asleep.” George said in a quiet voice, a small smile on his face and his gaze fell on his brother, watching him just as he had watched him ever since he woke up. Making sure that his chest was rising and falling in regular intervals, making sure that he wasn’t choking or turning blue, making sure that his dressings didn’t need changing. He knew that Fleur was with Ginny and Hermione, watching them, looking after the two of them, but that didn’t mean he didn’t worry about the two of them as well. He had already lost so much, he couldn’t lose them too, he wouldn’t lose them, not without a fight.

He couldn’t lose any of them, not another soul, and as his eyes rested on Ron, he couldn’t help but think how much he had grown in the past year, and how when he slept he still looked like the little boy that him and Fred had looked so much. The little boy with bright blue eyes and a cheeky smile, he would never be able to look at Ron without seeing him like that, without wanting to protect him. And it was the same as with Ginny, and even Hermione with her bushy brown hair or Harry with his glittering green eyes, he needed to look after him, Fred would have wanted him too. And he almost wasn’t able to, he almost missed the battle, his baby brother had got him, and then his baby brother had collapsed in front of him, and he had felt all of the air leave his body as he contemplated the worst.

“He’ll wake up again in a few hours just like you did.” George said as Harry sat on the edge of his bed, his fingers curled around the mattress, gripping it as he watched Ron, he was his first friend, his best friend, his brother. George sunk into his chair, and took a deep breath as he looked up at the ceiling. Harry nodded in reply, his face solemn as he watched Ron’s chest rise and fall.

“And then we’ll tell him?” Harry asked, his voice low as he almost whispered the words. His body ached, all of it did, and he still had the taste of that disgusting potion in his mouth, but he was healing, he was going to be okay. They could mend almost anything here, almost everything, but not enough.

“And then we tell him.” George breathed, his whole body still as his gaze settled on Ron, wondering how long he could keep it from him, how long he could give his little brother before he told him. He would never describe Ron as innocent, not anymore, but as he slept he looked so young again, young, resilient, determined and defeated, and George would do anything in the world to protect that, but there was nothing he could do, he wished he could but he couldn’t, he couldn’t when Fred died and he couldn’t now.


	28. The Attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little different from the rest, but I hope you enjoy it all the same. It should make sense as you continue to read, but if not, at the end in my authors note there will be an explanation.

She didn’t see it coming. None of them did. One minute she was asleep in bed, the next she was woken by the screams of her father. She hadn’t known that her father could sound quite like that, she hadn’t known that his voice sounded that way when he was in pain. She heard her father die, she heard his screams echo throughout the house. She didn’t hear his body drop to the floor but she did hear the silence, the silence that rung through her ears as the screaming stopped. Refusing to believe what her brain was telling her, refusing to panic, she grabbed her wand off the bedside table and slipped out of her room, running on silent feet to her little brothers room. She could hear footsteps and cackling laughter erupting from downstairs, they were coming.

Pushing open her brother’s door, she pushed it softly shut behind her as she scanned the room. The bed was empty, she could see the blankets haphazardly pushed away, her eyes scanned the floor, she couldn’t see blood, and his window was still closed, he hadn’t left this room himself, he hadn’t.... she heard a quiet noise, one she surely would have missed if she wasn’t holding her breath. Bending down silently she found her brothers wet face staring up at her, his cheeks tear stained and his eyes red as he clutched his teddy bear. He wasn’t crying loudly, he was silently sobbing as he clutched on to Godric, hoping that his teddy would keep him safe. Raising her finger to her lips, she gave her brother a small smile as she told him to keep quiet. He was far too young to understand what was happening, but he already knew. He had experienced the fear of the past year too, he hadn’t understood it when it started, but when it ended; she stopped herself, how could she think that? It obviously wasn’t over yet. Pulling her brother out from under the bed and holding him in her arms she stood up slowly, closed her eyes and disapparated.

Except she didn’t.

She couldn’t.

Whoever was in her house had put a lock on it; as long as she remained within in the four walls of her home, she was trapped. She couldn’t leave and she couldn’t stay. The voices were getting louder now, she could hear their footsteps as they approached, their heavy boots slapping against the wooden floors.  Silent tears rolled down her brothers cheeks as he held onto her as his teddy for dear life, knowing that if he made a sound they were dead; a thought that she wished with all her might that her 5 year old brother would never have to know. Giving her brother’s arm a squeeze, she tightened her grip on her wand and strengthened her resolve. It was just them now, she knew for sure her father was dead, and her mother was already dead and buried.

“Hold tight.” She breathed, before kissing her brothers forehead as she turned towards the window. Part of her reasoned that this had to work, there was no other way. And if it didn’t they would die; but they would die anyway, at least this way it would less painful, wouldn’t it? Her brother nodded, his little fist wrapped around her shirt as he almost strangled Godric the teddy with his tight grasp.

Looking over at his window, she flicked her wand, opening it. She could hear their boots more clearly; they were getting close now, they were almost at the door. Holding onto her brother with all her might she ran forward towards the window, lunging onto her desk as she propelled herself off of it and through the window, flying forward before she was falling. She could hear that they were entering the room now, but she didn’t care as the wind whistled around her ears. Her eyes shut, no longer looking at the moon in the sky above. She knew there were two ways this would go. Splat or...

**Crack!**

**...**

The clock struck behind him as beeping filled the air. He knew what that sound meant, he knew _exactly_ what it meant: they were under attack. He wasn’t sure why, but he knew that they were. It wasn’t his flat; he knew that within seconds. He didn’t hear the second alarm go, which meant they were breaking into the building, not his flat. War time was over, that was what everyone had said and was still saying. But he knew better: he knew that it didn’t end, it _couldn’t_ end without the death eaters having the last word; they weren’t done with the battle at Hogwarts. They weren’t finished, and as screams started to erupt from a few floors down, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was them, the death eaters, coming for blood.

He knew he wouldn’t really have time to get dressed, but he knew he would need to, as long as he was fast it didn’t matter. With a few flicks of his wand he was dressed, his shoes on and laced up. Magic would be everywhere, with spells and curses flying through the air, shattering and killing, deflected spells and badly aimed spells, it would be chaos. But it would be just his luck to step on a piece of broken glass and be killed in a Muggle way. He needed to fight. He was ready. Pushing his bedroom door open he came face to face with her, he knew she was ready to fight too. Without a word to each other they ran through their flat, leaving the door open behind them, knowing it wouldn’t make much difference.

Fight or Flight.

It was common instinct. His used to be flight, or at least he thought so as everything scared him half to death at times, but in his last year at Hogwarts it became crystal clear to him that he was a fighter, that he belonged in Gryffindor, and that he was one of the brave at heart.

Spells and curses were already flying around when he came crashing down the staircase. He needed to get people out, he was going to fight, but he knew, oh how he knew, that not everyone could. There were children in here; children that he had seen in the hallways, dragging their feet after a long shopping trip with their parents. Children that he had seen laughing as they sat on the playground down the street. Children that needed to be saved. Kicking open doors, he made sure that there was no left alone in their flats as he scanned them quickly, looking for children or anyone who had managed to sleep through the screams and the smell of blood; for anyone crippled by fear like he once was.

“Disapparate! Go to Muggle areas, Muggle places where they won’t be!” He said as he placed a crying baby boy into the arms of a petrified mother, her two year old daughter held her hand as their father grabbed his wand off the mantel piece. The mother nodded as the father picked his daughter up in his arms.

Crack!

They disappeared in front of him. He could feel a small smile on his face forming; that was the 9th flat he had cleared. Downstairs he heard the fighting go on, and he was ready: ready to fight. Running out of the flat, he checked the last three, finding them abandoned. He ran down the staircase, lunging off the second to bottom step, toppling a death eater to the floor. With a single flick of his wand, the man below him was dead. He needed to find her, scrambling up off the floor; his eyes surveyed the room before he stopped cold. A wand against his neck, he looked up at the man holding it there, who was smiling down at him with a deranged look on his face. Opening his mouth to show yellow teeth, his smile vanished before the lights went out in his eyes and he fell down. Sighing in relief, he looked down at the yellow teethed death eater before standing up and running towards her. His wand moving, his wrist continuously twisting, aiming; he made his way over to her, as the number of death eaters swelled before his eyes. They were losing, that was obvious; there were very few of the people he recognised left standing. Reaching her, he flicked his wand, sending a green flash to a woman who sneered at him, killing her.  She looked down at him, her wand still moving, with desperation in her eyes.

“You need to leave, we’re losing.” She said. Opening his mouth to protest, he looked around them as he blocked another curse sent their way. She was right; there was no way they could win this. They were outnumbered. Stepping forward to send another curse, he felt her hand clasp around his wrist as she pulled him back towards her, towards the exit that she was standing in front of.

“Go!” She shouted at him, pushing him towards the door. Fighting back, he looked up at her and shook his head. He didn’t want to leave; she was the only one left. She was it, he couldn’t lose her too. Her wand moved, savagely as it always did, as she killed another death eater, making sure to bring them immense pain before they faded off the earth. He let their screams fill his head as she pushed him again.

“I love you.” She breathed as she pushed him harder this time; there wasn’t a time to hug or to kiss him goodbye. She was already wounded; she could feel the poison spreading through her body, and she needed to get him out. Taking a few steps backwards, he flicked his wand, blocking a spell that was directed at them both.

“Run boy!” She shouted, her back to him now as she walked into the building, strong and confidently, as though she was greeting death itself. Turning, he ran for several steps before he heard the door slam shut behind him; turning again back to the building, he stopped.

“.... YOU LITTLE SHITS!” He heard her yell. He missed the start but he could imagine what she would say; a smile touched his lips before his heart stopped and he was thrown backwards by a wall of heat as the building exploded in front of him.

“NO!” He screamed, the one word wrapping around him as he stared at the building from where he lay. As she had pushed him away, he knew what she was thinking: he would have done the same thing if it had come to mind. It was only death eaters now; it was only her against them. Everyone else had disapparated, or were already dead.

 “Gran.” He said softly as he watched the building burn in front of him while he looked for survivors. Clutching his wand, he rose himself to his feet and pointed his wand at the sky. His mind clear and focussed, he put a protectivebarrier over the building; it wouldn’t work against any strong death eaters, but a weak one trying to escape wouldn’t be able to. The survivors would be left with no other option than to re-enter the building where the fire would only consume them. Soon enough the fire would fill the barrier with smoke and flame, he just hoped she hadn’t survived the blast to be killed but his barrier. His parents had lost their minds due to the death eaters, and now he had lost Gran to them as well; but at least she had taken a fair few of them down with her. With protection over the building, he closed his eyes again, this time with a different thought: he had to get to the Burrow. There was no doubt that they were under attack. His wand firmly in hand, Neville took a deep breath.

**Crack!**

**...**

The house stirred, but she did not; she had always been a heavy sleeper. That came from having to listen to her mother cry herself to sleep, and when she had finally fallen asleep, she had to listen to the sounds her father made when his walls came crashing down, and he let his emotions pour out as he cried in the bathroom, thinking that she couldn’t hear; that she didn’t know. She knew alright, she knew that her family tree was growing smaller, that her aunts and uncles had died at the hands of You-Know-Who. In the battle of Hogwarts when she fought alongside her friends, alongside her family, she lost her father. For the past week her mother had been inconsolable, so it made sense that she could sleep through anything.

“Wake up!” A voice sounded as she was shaken awake. Her and her mother weren’t alone in the house; it wasn’t their home. Their house had been destroyed so they were refugees, staying in the house with 9 other wizarding families. “We’re under attack!” The voice urgently whispered, as hands pushed clothes into her hands and she blinked; she was fully awake now.

“Death eaters.” She breathed. They had a chance; there were 9 families here, all survivors... a scream sounded from down stairs. Maybe not nine families, she edited as she pulled the jumper over her head, before yanking on the pants and slipping her bare feet into her boots. Her wand clutched in her hand, she followed the flash of brown hair in front of her as he sprinted into another room, off to wake someone else.

The fight wasn’t just beginning when she reached the ground level, from one look she could tell she had missed a lot already. With a flick of her wand she knocked out a death eater, split its wand, and after a moment of deliberation she killed him. Azkaban was possible to escape from, and she would never be able to take back that action if he killed someone else; he was better off dead, they were better off with him being dead. They had killed her father, her family; it was only fair she returned the favour without much hesitation.

Around her curses were firing and people were shouting, some were crying. Two faces she recognised lay limp on the floor, lives that they would never be able to get back. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her mother, ruthless and methodical. There were only two death eaters left; half a dozen had just disapparated. The boy, no, the man, that had shaken her awake was beside her now, his wand raised. She raised hers; putting up a protection spell to keep any of the death eaters re-enforcements at bay, at least for a minute or so.

“I’ll call the ministry.” He said, lowering his wand as he retreated into the house. Smelling smoke, she turned and found an old man putting the fire out with his wand. Noticing a flash of blonde hair on the ground, her breath caught. Stepping forward, she sighed and then felt terrible for doing so; she didn’t recognise the dead girl, who was only a few years older than she was. Running into the house, she ripped a piece of parchment off a scroll and scribbled a note, before tying it to the ankle of her owl.

“Find her.” Susan whispered as she lightly touched the owl’s wing before closing her eyes. The owl took off as she staggered backwards into her mother’s arms; they were safe. More death eaters may be coming but that didn’t matter now, what mattered now was that they were safe and that the Bone family wasn’t short one after tonight. Her mother was alive, and as she hugged her close, she hoped that her friend was too.

**...**

A door slammed, a voice screamed, a body dropped.

A death eater ran up the staircase; silent steps covered by cries echoing throughout the house as she made her way to a child’s bedroom, quietly pushing the door open and then closing it behind her. Frightened faces greeted her and she gave a small smile as she pointed a spell at the door, muffling them.

“You need to go.” She told the father cradling his son in his arms while his little girl held tightly onto his hand. The little girl looked up at her, her brown eyes wide as she took the girl in: her dark hair and pale skin, her black robes and paint on her face.

“Don’t hide. They’ll burn this house to the ground; get out.” She explained, cutting the fathers reply off. This wasn’t the first family she had saved, and hopefully it wouldn’t be the last. “Go somewhere Muggle, and stay there.” She added, stepping towards the door listening to the footsteps; they were getting closer, but she still had time.

“Than-” The man replied as the vision of his dying wife flashing before his eyes. She cut him off with a curt shake of the head, telling him he was running out of time. Picking his daughter up off the ground, he held her on his hip as he walked over to the window, blasting the glass out of the way before he jumped out.

Crack!

Unmuffling the room, the girl smiled and set the room alight. Grinning manically, she laughed as she left the room wondering if anyone suspected her yet. Tonight was her last night and then she would be free; they would die killing the wizards, the muggle-borns, the half bloods, the traitors, the enemy, and she didn’t mind if they killed her too, as long as she took a few death eaters down with her.

Her mother had taught her well, she knew exactly what she needed to do.

**...**

Shocked awake, just like so many nights before. One hand went straight to her wand, the other straight to the empty space beside her on her bed. Hearing the bed creak, she looked over and found him climbing out of bed, pulling his shirt over his head before a jumper quickly followed. Picking his jeans up off the floor, he put them on quickly before slipping his feet into his shoes. His wand in hand, he looked over to find Fleur fully dressed and pulling her blonde hair into a ponytail. With a flick of his wand, Bill checked whether their defences were secure.

They were.

It wasn’t Shell Cottage that was under attack, he knew that; he learnt all that from the message that had come from Kinglsey Shacklebolt, followed in quick succession by a message from his father. There wasn’t a moment to lose, the Burrow was in distress, the death eaters were there, the Weasley’s were under attack. Fleur turned to him now, her wand in her hand as she walked over to him, her lips crashing against his before she pulled away. He knew what she was thinking: this could be their last. With all his heart he hoped that wouldn’t be the case, but after everything, he could never be sure, not now the death eaters were attacking his childhood home and trying to kill his family. Taking a step away from Fleur, he watched her close her eyes.

Crack!

Alone in the cottage, in their home, Bill took a small breath before taking another shakier one, wondering what scene would be presented to him when he arrived at the Burrow. Would his family be winning? Or would he see their lifeless bodies on the ground? He couldn’t fathom their deaths; Fred had died, that was enough. Closing his eyes, he clutched onto his wand, ready to fight; hoping that he wasn’t too late, that his family was alive, and that he could help them win.

**Crack!**

**...**

Sitting on the seesaw, her little brother still clinging onto her, she allowed herself to breathe. They were safe, she told herself. They were safe here. She mouthed the silent words to herself. They wouldn’t come for them here. She nodded, knowing it to be true. From where she sat, her brothers face pressed against her as he clung onto Godric, her eyes followed the wisps of smoke cascading into the sky; those wisps of smoke were from her home, she knew they were. She didn’t know why they were there, she didn’t know where she would go, but she knew that her father was dead and it was just her and her brother now.

“Hannah, where are we?” Her little brother asked; his grip still tight on Godric as he tilted his face up to look at hers. He was no longer crying, the determined look on his sister’s face kept him from doing so. She wasn’t shaking, her grip on him was firm; he felt safe in her arms, sitting in the dark as he shivered against her. They were both in their pyjamas Hannah wished she had enough time to grab a coat to keep him from getting cold.

“Safe.” Hannah answered, not letting her voice crack, not letting her pain show through the mask; she needed to stay strong for her brother, she needed to stay strong for herself. In front of her, she could smell the smoke from her burning home; her memories and her childhood burning away. She wasn’t a child anymore, the day she got pulled from class to be delivered the news that her mother was dead, she was no longer a child. She was no longer a child when she had to learn to fight for herself, for her life. She was no longer a child when she fought in the battle of Hogwarts. She wasn’t allowed to be anything but an adult, there was no room for anything else in the past year, and she would try her damndest to make sure that her baby brother would still get to be a child, even after everything.

“Daddy’s dead, isn’t he?” He asked; his voice shaking as he looked up at her, his brown eyes wide as he watched her expression.

“Yes he is, Matthew. It’s just us now.” Hannah answered, before she kissed his forehead softly and drew his body closer to hers, trying to keep him warm. The Abbott’s were once a happy family; she could remember the laughter and the comfort, and that was going up in flames in front of her, just like her home. Her mother was murdered; her father was murdered. All she wanted to do was fight, but protecting Matthew came first; and when the day finally broke, she would go to the ministry and seek shelter. But for now, it was impossible to know whether or not it was breeched too, and she couldn’t put Matthew in danger; she simply couldn’t. “And then there were two.” She added bitterly in an undertone; she didn’t want Matthew to hear it but she couldn’t help but expel that small comment. It was just the two of them now, Hannah and Matthew Abbott against the world.

Matthew said nothing in reply; he just hugged her tighter and increased his grip on Godric the teddy, glad that he had survived the fire. He was only five years old but he knew when his sister jumped from the window with him in hand, that they were escaping with their lives; and he knew that the smoke his sister watched with a certain stillness and grief was coming from his burning home.

It seemed odd to Hannah that in the stillness of the night, she felt comfortable with her brother in her arms. Their world shattered around them, yet again left grieving for the loss of another parent, their last parent. When everything was so uncertain, she was certain that wherever those death eaters were heading to next, they would face the unexpected; their certain death made her smile. The only aspect of their certain death, was that she wouldn’t be among those fighting against them, delivering the final blow.

Holding her brother close to her, she heard the wings of an owl and she smiled. Maybe she would be able to send the final blow to someone; perhaps not the final blow to the death eaters that killed her father, but she was adamant that she would kill at least one death eater tonight.

Pulling the note out quickly, she scanned it and her smile broadened once again. Matthew was still shivering against her as she stood up, her arms wrapped around him as the owl flew off, her wand in one hand, the note in the other. Maybe the Ministry wasn’t safe, but there was somewhere they could go. Somewhere they could go...

**Crack!**

**...**

It didn’t make any sense.

He couldn’t make any sense out of what was happening.

Suddenly,he was ripped from his slumber by fearful screams that shook him to his core. He didn’t recognise the person, but a few seconds after waking he knew that whoever it was, whoever’s screams were silenced, they were dead. Reaching out to grab his wand, the door flew open; a snarling death eater standing in front of him, his wand pointing at him.

“Plea-” he started to say, before a light flashed in front of him and he was silenced.

He was not the first to die in this night of terrors, and he certainly was not the last. Nor was he the first to beg for his life, or the first to feel tears wet his face before he fell backwards to where he laid, no longer sleeping; a more permanent stillness.

The death eater turned and headed out of the room, off to find another Mudblood to murder; ridding the planet of their existence was a good and noble dead in his mind.

**...**

Her brother still held tightly in her arms, Hannah lingered outside the protective border set around the house as she waited for a boy to fetch Susan. It was reasonable, she knew that; she could be anyone, but she was barely an adult, holding a five year old boy in her arms who was shivering against her as he clutched onto Godric with his left hand. They were hardly dangerous.

“Hannah!” Susan cried as she ran out of the house toward the boundary. “Thank Merlin!” She exclaimed as she let Hannah enter; wrapping her arms around Hannah and Matthew, hugging them close before letting go again, and smiling at the two of them. Taking a tired Matthew from Hannah’s arms, she grinned down at him, oblivious to the dried blood that was settling on her skin or the scorch marks. She could make out Hannah’s injuries, but had no idea that she didn’t look too great herself. There was nothing that came to mind to console him, so instead she kissed him on the forehead.

“Mrs Bones.” Matthew said quietly, his voice full of fondness. Susan handed him to her mother; he smiled up at her before looking over to his sister who smiled back at him, reassuring him that they were safe now.

“Let’s find you some warm clothes and a nice warm glass of milk, does that sound good?” Susan’s mum said as she held Matthew close. Giving Hannah a small smile, she carried him into the house, out of the cold air and away from his sister, who she knew would be close to falling apart. Hannah Abbott was a strong girl, she had to be, but Susan’s mother knew that she needed to not put on a brave face for her baby brother, even for just a few seconds.

“Oh, Susan.” Hannah murmured as Susan wrapped her arms around her best friend once more and held her tight. Hannah’s body started to shake, not from the cold, but from within; from her very core as she let herself shudder. She wasn’t going to let herself cry though, not yet. Tears would come later, she knew that, but they couldn’t come now. “Dad’s dead.” She added; her voice catching.

Susan said nothing in reply, instead she clung to Hannah tighter, not letting her fall, not letting her falter; she knew there was nothing that she could do, nothing that she could say. What Susan didn’t know was that her being there, just standing with her arms wrapped around Hannah and her chin resting on her shoulder, was comfort enough; it was the best she could give, and Hannah had nothing to say to her, nothing to tell her how safe she made her feel, or how Susan was already helping.

“I need to fight.” Hannah whispered against Susan’s shoulder, her resolve strengthening with each breath. Inside she was filled with hatred, hatred for those that had killed her parents, for all those involvedin making child orphans, family trees smaller, and transforming people into grievers. She needed to kill them, for closure, for peace of mind.

“Han-” Susan started as she pulled back, her hands resting on Hannah’s as she held them tight; looking at Hannah, her eyes misted over. Her best friend was now an orphan; her best friend was driven by hate, the hate that she herself was beginning to let control her now as well, the hatred that she couldn’t let lead her.

“They’ve killed both my parents now, Suze, I need to fight; I need to kill them! Don’t tell me that killing isn’t the answer, that is bullshit, you know that, it is abso-” Hannah started, ripping her hands from Susan’s grip as she stared at her; her hands moving as she talked, her face desperate, desperate for Susan to understand, desperate...

“What about Matthew? He’s lost everybody, he can’t lose you too.” Susan reasoned. He was so little, he couldn’t lose his sister; she couldn’t die, he would be all alone, and Susan would be left without her friend. He couldn’t grow up without a family to love him; he simply couldn’t.

“He’ll be left with the knowledge that I-” Hannah started, her resolve weakening a little. Matthew, she couldn’t let him grow up without her, he couldn’t become an adult before his time; he needed to be a child. He needed her, she knew that, but she needed revenge; she needed something more.

“Seriously, Hannah? The knowledge? That’s a load of shit and you know it. He wouldn’t give a fuck. He’s lost his father today, his mother in the second wizarding war; he will be alone!” Susan argued, taking a step towards Hannah as she stepped back. Susan’s eyes were livid now; she wasn’t softening under Hannah’s glare, she was hardening.

“He’ll have you.” Hannah replied desperately.

“Me? You think I’m gonna let you fight alone? How hard did you fucking fall?” Susan answered, a small smile twitching at the corner of Hannah’s lips that she didn’t let show. She knew that Susan would, deep down she knew Susan wouldn’t let her fight alone but with everything happening, with her mind screaming out to her, with every cell in her being occupied by grief, and the overwhelming need to fight, she couldn’t see it. Susan was still the same girl she had met all those years ago, loyal and surprisingly foul mouthed for a Hufflepuff.

“I didn’t fall, I jumped out of a window.” Hannah replied, resisting the urge to pull her best friend into a hug. Just talking to her was making her feel better, but it didn’t subside her hunger to fight, or her desire to kill the death eaters who had taken her family from her.

“You what?” Susan’s eyes widened as she looked at Hannah, raising her eyebrow she wondered: was she joking? She had to be joking. But then again she reasoned this was Hannah, of course she jumped out a window.

“It was the only way to apparate.” Hannah answered with a small grin, as she spread her palms.

“Merlin, Hannah.” Susan sighed. Without another word uttered, she took a small step forward and wrapped her arms around Hannah, pulling her close. Hannah relaxed into the hug and held her close, smiling against her shoulder as she shivered against her again.

“I just need t- where are you going?” Hannah started, before noticing the people running out of the house and towards the boundary; most of them kept running, too deep in their minds to notice her, to hear her words but one of them stopped.

“The Burrow, Kinglsey just sent a message; it’s one of the last houses still standing.” He replied, giving them a small nod before following the others over the protective barrier. Half of those willing to fight remained behind on the off chance that the death eaters would return; they couldn’t leave it unprotected. Hannah pulled out of the hug, as her gaze followed the people disapparating a few metres from where she stood.

“Hann-” Susan started, as Hannah glanced her way. Taking a deep breath, Susan shrugged her shoulders before she turned to the house. “Paul! Tell mum I’m going with Hannah to fight; tell her I love her, and I’ll see her when I get back.” Susan yelled at the boy who was sitting at the top of the staircase, watching the others leave. Standing up, he nodded to her; glad that he was deemed important enough to be given this job, this information; that he was useful.

“Tell Matthew I love him.” Hannah shouted as Paul turned to move up the staircase. The nine year old nodded, before running up the staircase. “We’re going?” She asked, turning back to Susan as she raised her eyebrow.

“Put these on.” Susan said, handing her a bundle of clothes that she summoned from her room. Hannah said nothing as she quickly stripped; they were outside alone, and with lives on the line, she didn’t care if someone saw her in her bra and undies. Susan gave a quiet whistle and Hannah hit her lightly before she pulled on the pair of jeans that were a little baggy, put on the socks and the boots that just fit, before pulling the top over her head and looking expectantly at Susan. “We’re going. But if it goes sideways, we get the fuck out okay?” Susan added, giving her a stern look.

“Okay.” Hannah grinned as she took Susan’s hand. Together they walked across the boundary, their faces set as they clutched their wand in one hand. Susan gave Hannah’s hand one last squeeze before she let her hand fall to her side and gave her house one last look, wondering if she would ever see it again. Hearing her mother’s voice, Susan shut her eyes and pushed her mother’s cries out of her mind; she couldn’t think about that now, she was ready to fight, she _needed_ to fight. Beside her, Hannah closed her eyes  as she tightened her grip on her wand; she was determined, this was what she had to do.

**Crack!**

**...**

There was no mercy here.

On either side.

Curses flashed around the Burrow, around Bill and Fleur, as they ran through the piles of fresh corpses scattering the ground; their shoes already wet with blood, blood that had spilled onto the ground as flesh was torn and people screamed. Out of the corner of her eye, Fleur noticed a twitchy hand moving closer and closer to its wand. With a flick of her wand, she checked the hand belonged to a death eater, and then snapped the wand in half and removed the man’s hand from his wrist.

As far as Bill could tell, none of his family was dead; they were still fighting, their faces livid as they moved, ruthlessly killing, maiming, and destroying. These people, these death eaters, may not have killed anyone he knew personally, but they had destroyed someone’s family, taken someone’s life; it was only fair that they felt a great deal of pain before they left the world. Azkaban was unlikely to have another escape now, but he couldn’t be sure, and Bill hated leaving anything to chance.

Across the crowd, across the flashing of curses, the tangled bodies and the dense fighting, Charlie caught Bill’s eye and nodded. He knew just what his brother meant; turning his wand up to the sky, he went about putting the protective enchantment up as people apparated around him. Some were death eaters, but others were faces he recognised. His mind on the protective enchantments, he didn’t notice Fleur behind him guarding his back, ensuring his safety.

With a flick of her wand, she shielded Bill and herself from a curse. Despite her surroundings, she felt calm; calm in the chaos she had grown so used to, but did not miss. Moving her head swiftly to the side, she went to block another curse flying towards them before it was deflected. Smiling thanks to the blonde haired girl with blood and soot on her face, Fleur turned towards where the next curse was coming from, wondering if they would last the night.

Hannah returned Fleur’s smile as Susan vanished from her side. Across the mangled mess of corpses, Hannah spotted Ginny and Hermione standing back to back as they fought; their expressions blank, ruthless, and methodical. As Hannah’s eyes scanned the crowd, she spotted Hagrid in near the Burrow and Luna working away, binding the surviving death eaters. A flash to her right drew her attention away from surveying the scene around her; her wand ready as she blocked the curse before sending a bright green flash back in return. A few feet in front of her, a body dropped to the floor; her first kill of the night. “That’s for you, Dad.” She said silently. Would he be proud? She wondered momentarily, before pushing the memory of her father’s screams out of her mind; focussing on the battle in front of her.

Crack!

Hands on her shoulder, she was shifted slightly out of the way as a figure ran past her. The protection was almost up; no one would be able to get in or out in a few minutes. Would she need to? Or would she be safe? Only time could tell.

Leaving Hannah behind him, Neville ran towards the battle; wanting to deliver the news of the fallen to Arthur, but something diverted his attention. Luna disapparated to his left, but that wasn’t what had torn his attention; it was the wand pointed at George, the wand that was unnoticed by George. He was almost behind the death eater now, his wand pointed unseen at his back. As the death eater collapsed in front of him, George gave Neville a startled look before he nodded and turned.

Everyone had a personal reason for why they were fighting tonight, but their reasons were not all that different. Each person fighting alongside Neville fought for those they had lost; to protect those that still lived, to cure the hatred growing inside of them, to fill the hole in their chest that their dearly departed had left. His wand up and his body fluid, Neville moved again; moving to the heart of the battle where curses were flying and bodies were dropping to the ground, with cries of agony escaping their lips as they did so. They weren’t winning; not anymore. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione and Ginny clutching each other; both covered in blood, whose blood he could be sure. They disapparated in front of him, and the hole inside of him grew a little; he couldn’t lose them too.

His wand moved again as something caught his eye; someone had gotten into the Burrow. They had gotten inside, and nobody had noticed. He had seen their grubby face pressed against the window for a second before it disappeared. Someone was inside. Across from him, Neville could see Harry and Ron. They were close to each other; they were wounded, he could tell, but he couldn’t go to them. They needed to leave; this he had to do alone.

**Crack!**

**...**

The protection was almost up; there were only a few seconds to go. Bill’s wand was still pointing at the sky as Fleur threw curses left and right, blocking and attacking, protecting both Bill and Charlie who couldn’t protect themselves. Death eaters were apparating in, not out as she so desired, but then again she always liked a challenge. Re-enforcements were apparating in as well, and the blonde girl from before was gravitating towards her. Fleur noted how the girls, no, the woman’s face was calm she dropped death eaters ruthlessly, yet precise; not wanting to waste a single second, not wanting to lose a single life, on her side at least. The woman was still young, but she was no longer a child, she wore a weight on her shoulders, one that did nothing to slow her wand.

Catching Fleur’s eye, Hannah gave her a smile before she went back to fighting. Blocking another curse, Hannah felt her breath catch as she noticed Susan hunched over and clutching her side. Her body frozen on the spot, Hannah remained still for a single second before she lunged forwards, blocking a curse fired at Susan before she placed her hand on Susan’s shoulder lightly.

“Go.” Was all Hannah said; it was neither a suggestion nor an instruction. Susan nodded slightly, even that small motion placing her in more agony than before. Removing her hand from her shoulder, Hannah took a step back and looked up at the sky fleetingly, wondering when this nightmare would end.

Crack!

Susan disapparated in front of her, just as Ron, Harry, and George disapparated a few metres from where she stood. Hannah let the fire fill her, the burning desire to get her revenge, to ensure that these bastards, as she put it, would not live to kill again; wouldn’t live to see the break of day. Firing a curse to her right, something caught her eye.

The protection was almost up; it only had four seconds to go...

Three. Hannah’s eyes were no longer on the battle: she was staring up; staring at something, feeling a tug towards it, knowing that she needed to go, that she needed to help.

Two. Fleur deflected another curse as she took a step forward away from Bill, whose gaze was fixed on the sky.

One. **Crack!**

**...**

The house was silent.

No flickers of light, no smell of smoke, no detectable movement.

Only silence.

Before the creak of a stair echoed throughout the house.

His wand held firmly in his hand, Neville walked upon silent feet as he searched for the face he had seen in the window; the face that he had seen inside of the Burrow, the face of a death eater, whose presence in the Burrow did not bode well for anyone involved. Neville was determined for that not to be the case.

Behind him, he heard a footstep and he turned slowly. His eyes watching intently, his ears strained, his entire body on alert as he waited.

In front of him he heard a small bang, followed by a muttered curse. He moved his head again, wondering whether his ears were lying to him.

A floorboard above him creaked. His eyes shot upwards, before he looked from side to side. There were more than two people in the house, he knew that now, and he knew that sneaking around wasn’t going to work for much longer.

Down the staircase, something smashed. He had no idea how many death eaters were in the Burrow, who surrounded him, or if they were friend or foe. The few seconds it took for him to differentiate between them could be his last breath; his last moment not crippled by agony and overwhelmed with pain. His leg stung, as did the seeping wound on his forehead, but he couldn’t think about that now; he had other, far more pressing problems to deal with.

His eyes wide open he took a silent step forward, which was followed by a few more steps but he came to a stop, something made him pause; a flash of light, the moon reflecting on a watch, just a little bit, just enough. Without uttering a single word, Neville sent a flash of green and slipped past a half closed door before the body hit the floor.

Hurried footsteps approached, at least three sets as far as Neville could tell and he waited, he waited for his moment to strike. A muffled groan sounded before another body dropped. Friend or foe? It was impossible to tell. A cackle sounded, and then a sharp scream of pain, a girl, no, he corrected himself, a woman. Before the same voice made another sound, a half yell was made, then almost the audible sound of smiling as the second body hit the floor, the third in the last minute.

“Fuck.” A woman’s voice muttered, a voice that he recognised. Without a thought, he pushed the door open and flicked his wand, killing the death eater behind the stair case who was out of view, almost.

“Hannah?” Neville questioned, stepping forward as he lit the end of wand slightly, to see the room more clearly. His eyes swept over her, and then the three bodies lying still on the floor. She was injured, how badly, it was impossible for him to tell.

Crack!

Another death eater appeared in front of them.

Crack!

A second one appeared. They smiled over at the two of them before they moved their wands, setting the curtains alight, as they snarled and directed their wands at Hannah and Neville.  Curses flew, Hannah protected them both as Neville put out the fire, before he sent a blow to the first death eater, knocking him off his feet and through the wall, before Neville brought a dresser down on him. Soundlessly apologising to Molly for the person shaped hole in her wall, Neville turned to the other one, but he was already dead. Turning to Hannah, he lowered his wand and took a step towards her, his face no longer confident, now white with panic.

“We have to go.” Neville urged.

“I’m fine.” Hannah argued, her hand shaking as she slumped against the wall; no longer in full control of her body as she felt herself shake while the colour leaked from her face, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She gave a determined looked to Neville as she tried to push herself to stand, but he just shook his head at her; he wasn’t having a bar of it.

“Merlin, Hannah. You look like death warmed up.” Neville countered, as Hannah fell again. Wrapping his arm around, taking her weight, he didn’t let her get another word in before he closed his eyes and held firmly onto his wand.

**Crack!**

**...**

The house was empty now. Hannah and Neville were gone, not a single breathe was made under the roof, not a single heart beat sounded between the walls. The house was empty, empty of souls, empty of life. A spark grew in the corner of the kitchen, a small green flame spilled across the floor, bubbling the wallpaper around it as it spread. Outside the fighting continued, the grass was wet with blood, the air heavy with the wailing and the screams of those that still drew breath. Hannah and Neville may have taken down the three death eaters in the Burrow, but was that enough?

**...**

Fleur’s face was wet with tears now.  Her wand pointed out in front of her in a shaking hand, her silent curses still as ruthless as before. Holding her ground outside the Burrow, she ignored the blood trickling down her leg as she fought, not willing to give up.

On the ground beside her, her hand still twitching lay the young death eater, the young death eater who had saved the lives of countless Muggle-borns, half-bloods and traitors. Smiling up at the sky, she let her eyelids droop, opening her arms up for the death that awaited her, she was ready, she was ready to see her mother now. She just hoped she had done her proud.

**...**

Swallowing a potion as she sat on the white sheets, her hand bandaged Susan looked out the window, wondering about the fate of her friends, of her mother, of her people. She was alive. She had survived the battle, but as she sat in silence she remembered the still faces she had seen on the grass before she disapparated, remembering all those that didn’t make the night. With the sun rising above the treeline, Susan found tears rolling down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around her legs, wondering if they could finally breathe.

On the floor below, Hannah lay on a conjured stretcher with Neville at her side. Wheeling her towards the door, they stopped as she slammed her hand against the doorframe and took a small shuddering breath before she cleared her throat.

“Tell Matthew I’m fine.” Hannah almost whispered, her voice catching in her throat.

“Matthew?” Neville asked, taking a step towards her, his tone soft.

“My little brother. He’s only five, he’ll be worried...” Hannah trailed off, the lump in her throat constructing her words, she couldn’t think about anything but Matthew, Matthew and the pain that was spreading, but she couldn’t leave just yet, Matthew had to know, he had to she was okay.

“I’m sure your pa-” Neville stopped himself as he remembered. “Your father is looking after him.” He finished, giving Hannah a reassuring smile, not knowing that Matthew was almost all alone.

“No, it’s just us now. He’s at the safe house on Birchman Place, you need to...” Hannah continued, her voice strained as she tried to keep awake; tried to convey her urgency to Neville. She needed him to understand, she needed him to know that Matthew had to know. He was only little, he couldn’t be all alone in this world; she needed to live, for him...

“I will, I will.” Neville reassured, clasping her hand in his as he steadied her shaking before he let go, taking a step back, before turning and leaving the room. He knew exactly what Hannah was attempting to convey, he knew her urgency; he knew that her little brother had to know, had to be looked after. It was just Neville now, the last Longbottom with his mind still intact. He was it.

Neville knew the look of determination on Hannah’s face.

But he didn’t know what had happened all over London; he didn’t know his friend’s fates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this doesn’t answer any of the questions set in the last chapter, but do not fret answers will come in the chapters to follow. Although this chapter was different from the rest I hope you enjoyed it all the same, I have been planning a chapter like this for a while so hopefully you liked it as much as I liked writing it. 
> 
> It is never explicitly stated that Susan Bones took part in the Battle of Hogwarts, but I think that she would have, and with her parents fighting due to who they had already lost, it made sense that her father was one of causalities. 
> 
> If you aren’t sure which characters are in what scenes feel free to ask, I hope I made it clear enough but perhaps that is not the case. The young death eater is not based on anyone, I just had the idea.


	29. Eyes Open

Absolute darkness, but not silence, no not this time.

Ron was slowly waking up.

Every cell in him wants him to remain asleep, he is tired and he aches, and he wants to sleep, he wants not to feel the pain that he knows is evitable, he wants to be able to avoid it all for a few more hours.

His mind starts to form coherent thoughts as he tries to move, his body is heavy, and he remembers, he remembers it all. He remembers the pain, the blood, the battle. He remembers everything. He isn’t home, he knows he isn’t home, it doesn’t smell the same, he’s at St Mungo’s he knows he is, his eyes are closed, and he can’t feel light pressing against his closed lids, which means it can’t be day, it must still be night. He can hear soft voices, the whispers of those comforting tones, two voices so low he can’t hear words, but he doesn’t mind, the words are no source of comfort for him, but who the voices belong to are. Harry and George. They are alive, they are talking in low voices, which means they are awake. Ron groans as the pain hits him again, shifting his leg was not the best plan, but as he twitches his toes, his lips curve to a smile, his legs may burn with pain but they are both still there. His body aches and his head screams, but he is alive, and as he takes a short rasping breath, he wonders how long he was asleep for.

“And it wakes!” Harry’s voice is happy and a smile is on his face as Ron opens his eyes. It takes him a moment to realise that the two of them were watching him, with carefully veiled expressions, the same expressions they wore last time he woke, but he was too tired, too concerned to notice them.

Perhaps those are the expressions fit for a time like this, but Ron doesn’t trust that, there must be something more. He remembers last time he woke, he remembers how they reassured him, but he needed to see them. He needs to see his sisters soft brown eyes and have her say something sarcastic, he needs to see Hermione’s bushy hair and have her correct him and say that she loves him to believe that they are both okay. He needs Bill to ruffle his year and Fleur to say ‘ze’. He needs to have his mother fuss over him and Dad give him a watery smile, he needs to see them to know that they are okay, to know that somehow they are still surviving, to know that despite everything they will eventually be okay.

The two of them are watching him with carefully constructed expressions, and as Ron notices this, he can’t think of anything else but what the masks are concealing, and what horror lies below. Part of him doesn’t want to know, but part of him craves an answer, he needs to know, have it ripped off, quick like a bandaid as Hermione would say. He doesn’t understand that analogy but the very thought of Hermione makes him smile, and only more curious about what his brothers are hiding from him.

“Oh you could definitely use some more beauty sleep, you look like shit.” George says, smiling at Ron as he stands up slowly from the chair he was sitting in the first time Ron woke, before walking towards Ron’s bed. The lamp is still switched on beside Ron, and that continuity gives some comfort, it means he hasn’t been asleep for long, it is still night outside.

“I look better than you.” Ron grins, his mouth hurting as his lips curve, but it is worth the smile that George returns. He lets the grin drop, and he wonders why his face hurts like this, he knew he was in pain before they arrived, but obviously adrenaline had done a great job at keeping the worst of it from his knowledge. But now he was no longer chocked full of adrenaline, he could feel everything, and that was not desirable at all.

“Not possible.” George replies, pushing a glass of water against Ron’s palm, a glass of water that Ron had not asked for, but was gratefully accepting. His mouth was dry and his throat burned, the sickly sweet taste that lined his mouth the last time he woke was gone, and now all he could taste was blood, which probably didn’t mean anything good.

“How long was out this time?” Ron asked, who was sitting on the edge of the bed beside Ron, the book that he was reading last time resting on the bed beside him, closed and untouched. Something isn’t right, something doesn’t feel right, and as he hands George back the glass, George avoids catching his eye. He can read the expression on his face, and it is not one that he likes, but sadly it is far too familiar for his liking. George is watching him, trying not to look at him, seeing him as he little brother, which means, whatever he needs to tell him, won’t be good.

“Only two hours, dawn should be on its way soon. It’s almost 4am.” Harry answers. He smiles at Ron, and Ron gives him a small smile back. Harry is trying, he is really trying, but Ron has known him longer than anyone, he is his best friend, his brother, the mask isn’t slipping, for Ron is was never there, he may not be the most observant but he can read Harry like a Quidditch play.

“Still Wednesday?” Ron asks, his mind whirring, trying to figure out what the two of them are neglecting to tell him, what the subject they are tiptoeing around is, he wants to ask them, to prompt them, but he needs to be patient, and by the uncertain expression casting a shadow on Harry’s face, he needs to prepare himself.

“Still Wednesday.” Harry repeats with a small smile, a smile that is supposed to be reassuring, and to some level it is, but really, it just makes Ron more nervous, and more eager to press the issue, the issue that the two of them won’t bring up.

The room fell into silence for a few seconds and Harry and George exchanged a look that Ron couldn’t miss, he looked from the two of them, in wonderment. He knew they were hiding something, and obviously they both thought it was the time to tell him. He looks around him quickly, wondering what he was missing, Harry’s wounds were too recent for the both of them to be lying about the time, so he can’t be in the crazy part of St Mungo’s trapped for years. They had said that the others were fine, but they could have been lying, although they wouldn’t have done that, would they?

But then again, Percy hadn’t been mentioned. Sure he was the least favourite brother, but he was still their brother, surely they would be more affected by his death than they were letting on, which brought Ron to the conclusion, that he couldn’t be dead. It wasn’t grief on Harry and George’s faces now, no, now that the masks were beginning to fall it was fear, it was fear and uncertainty that shadowed their expressions. There was something that they had to tell Ron, but Ron felt sure that they didn’t know all of it, that was the scariest thing now, the unknown, and whatever it could, whatever it would bring.

He didn’t want to know.

He had to know.

Didn’t he?

The thing about knowledge, is you want it, until you have it, and with this, with the energy in the room, and the expressions on their faces, Ron wasn’t sure that he wanted this knowledge, he wasn’t sure that they wanted to tell, but he knew one thing without a doubt, he needed to know. He had to know, and he had to deal with it, he needed to know, so they had to tell him. He couldn’t wait any longer, he needed to know, now.

George is still standing in silence, his thoughts weighted and a pained expression on his face. He slowly lowers himself onto Ron’s bed and looks at him, there is no longer a carefully constructed expression on his face, his eyes are wide and his face is open. Ron bites down on the inside of his lip as he looks over to Harry who is sitting on the edge of his bed staring at Ron, but not quite meeting his eye.

“Seriously what the fuck is going on?” Ron demands, his voice not quite sounding like his own, but he doesn’t care, the two of them aren’t really looking at him and they certainly aren’t looking at each other. The uneasy feeling that dwelled in his stomach is moving up his throat, and he feels like puking. “It’s my eye isn’t it?” Ron asks, his voice breaking as he looks at the two of them frantically.

“No it’s nothing to do with your eye!” Harry answers, shaking his head.

“There so fucking is! I’m blind aren’t I?” Ron yells, looking from George to Harry as his hand balls into a fist around the sheet, he can’t believe it, he’s going to be blind in one eye, oh this can’t be happening, he is far too young to be...

“Ron you’re not fucking blind.” George answers, as he places his hand on Ron’s fist which is turning white. It is meant to calm him down, but it only makes Ron more terrified, his brother wouldn’t be this to him if he wasn’t blind, he was blind, he would never be able to see out of his eye again...

“I’m fucking blind! I am going to be totally...” Ron starts frantically. His voice catches and he can feel tears escaping from the corner from his eye, the eye that he can still see out of, for now at least. He grips the sheet tighter, wondering if it will somehow eventuate in him being blind in both eyes, never to see the world again, never being able to... Ron’s expression is torn and his biting down on his bottom lip, trying to remember what everything looked like...

“Oh for fucks sake.” George sighs, he removes his hand from Ron’s and tucks his fingers underneath the bandage that is covering Ron’s eye and rips it off in one motion. Ron flinches and bites down on his lip harder, his body aches but he was beginning to get used to that pain, this pain however is fresh.

“Shit!” Ron groans, his hand flies up to his face but George catches at, not letting his hand touch his face. Ron shoots a glare at George and draws blood from his bottom lip. His body is aching and now his face burns, more so than it did when he woke up.

“Shut your eye, your other eye you twat.” George instructs, ignoring the expression on Harry’s face, he knows he is scowling at him, he knows that Ron’s face really hurts, it is already flaring up, but he was going to rip through some of his other bandages if George didn’t get him to stop freaking out. Ron shuts his eye, the right one this time and George asks, “What can you see?”

“The asshole who almost maimed me.” Ron grumbles. A smile tugs at the corner of Harry’s lips. George had said he wasn’t blind, but the bandage did cause some concern, and although Ron can lie, he isn’t lying about this, Harry is sure of that.

“See you’re not blind. And I didn’t rip any skin off.” George smiles and Harry opens his mouth to say something but shuts it again, Ron is already in pain, he doesn’t need to tell him that for the next few days at least he will a flap of his skin not fully attached to his face. He may not be able to feel the full extent of his injuries, but Harry and George can certainly see a lot of Ron’s, and for the past few hours they have been growing accustomed to everything, their own wounds and each other’s. They know they look bad, simply judging by how shit each other looks. But Ron looks the worst, and he is no doubt in a world of pain.

“Fine. So why does your face look like that? Did you lie ab-” Ron sighs, then stares at George. He could break him, maybe. He could read him, maybe. He just wants to know, he needs to know, and he knows that they need to tell him, they just don’t know how. George wants to protect him, Ron knows that look well, but he hates it, because the only time George looks like that, his expression so open, so soft, is when serious shit is happening.

“We’re not in St Mungo’s.” Harry says flatly.

“Because if y-” Ron continues before he pauses, digesting what Harry is just said, he looks from George to Harry, gaping at them and that at the room around them. “I’m sorry what?” He asks, barely believing what Harry just said.

“This ain’t St Mungo’s.” George confirms. Even though it’s the second time he’s heard it, he still can’t believe it, they have to be, they can’t be... shit.

“What?” Is all Ron can say. He is staring at George know, in complete disbelief. George gives him a sympathetic look and Ron looks over at Harry who is nodding, of course, he would have had to have this explained to him when he woke up, which meant this was the second time George had to break the news. Ron takes a small shallow breath and looks at Harry, “So where the fuck are we then?” he asks.

“We don’t know exactly.” Harry says slowly. Ron nods for a second and that looks over to George who still has his hand holding Ron’s, Ron didn’t notice until now, but he doesn’t want to let go, he likes the comfort, but he wishes he didn’t need it. As he digests Harry’s words he forgets the hand and stares at George.

“You don’t know?” Ron says slowly, his voice slightly louder than he intended it to be. Of course they didn’t know, otherwise they would have led with that, but that didn’t matter, what matters is that yet again they were stuck in a situation which probably doesn’t have a great outcome, and they don’t have Hermione, which pretty much means they will almost pretty much screwed.

“Look Ron we have no fucking clue where are, we don’t know what the fuck is on the other side of this door, we have no idea what so ever.” George snaps.

“Why didn’t you just disapparate?” Ron asks, he knows there will be some answer, they have been awake away from hours, they wouldn’t have just been twiddling their thumbs waiting for him to ask intelligible questions, but that doesn’t matter, Ron can’t believe it. They have to be in St Mungo’s, but they aren’t, so where the fuck are they? And more importantly can they leave, or will they leave alive?

“And leave you here? Are you fucking with me? Why on earth would I just leave you here, I haven’t a fucking clue if I can get back in, and I am not leaving you two alone.” George replies angrily, wondering why on earth Ron would even consider that as a possibility, there was no way he was leaving them here by themselves, that was a terrible idea.

“Why? Because we can’t handle it? Because we-” Ron argues, glad for a distraction, at least if he does something they can do, and can do well, yell at each other, then they can forget, at least for a few minutes, that they are sitting ducks, trapped in a room, Merlin knows where. He pulls his hand out of George’s grip as he glares at him.

“No, because I am not losing another brother.” George answers, his voice solemn. All the argument is sapped from Ron, and he gives George a small nod and gives his a hand a small squeeze before he eyes return to scanning the room.

“Did you try the door?” Ron asks. He doesn’t want to look at George, not right now, so his eyes settle on Harry, who is giving him a determined look, they have made it out of worse, they will be fine. They just need to get out of this room, they just need to work out an escape plan, or at least have some defence strategy in place if they need it.

“Course I tried the fucking door. I can’t get it open and I’m not all that sure I want to.” George sighs. He was the first to wake, which meant he had been stewing in his thoughts for hours upon hours now, which was not fun, especially as he attempted to work out how to break the news to the two of them. He wanted to at the very least have a plan worked out by the time they woke up, or by some miracle get them back to St Mungo’s without them ever knowing that they left.

“So we don’t know where we are, we don’t know who took us. Well what the fuck do we know?” Ron asks, looking from Harry to George desperately. He wants to yell, he feels like yelling would help, but he knows it won’t, they need to clear their minds as best they can and figure out what is happening, they don’t have Hermione or Ginny so they have to make do with each other.

“We were at St Mungo’s, we were because Mum had just left the room, and that, that is the last thing I remember. When I woke up I was here, with you two schumcks.” George answers, he closes his eyes as he tries to picture it, just as he had done hundreds of times over the last few hours, trying to find a detail, something so small he hadn’t noticed yet, something that would make some of this, any of this clearer.

“We all have our wands, which does seem like a well thought out plan, but if we can’t get out, wands or not, it doesn’t matter does it?” Harry says as he grips his wand and looks at Ron and George. Wands are helpful, but if the door doesn’t open, the wands aren’t really much help. There is probably some spell to break the charm on the door, but George didn’t want something to go wrong while attempting to open it, so he only tried for about an hour to get the door open, and had to put out several small fires in the process. George and Ron nod in reply, their eyes downcast as they sit in silence, thinking.

“Wait, if we’re not in St Mungo’s then why the fuck does it look like we are?” It suddenly occurs to Ron what has been bugging him since the moment Harry said they weren’t at St Mungo’s. The room looked almost exactly like the room he had been in the last time he had been to St Mungo’s, he was pretty sure that this was almost identical, it had to be.

“Well I didn’t want you too freak out when you first woke up, easing you into it seemed like the best option. So I transformed the room, it wasn’t hard with my exception skill and-” George starts, a cocky smile growing on his face as he reaches out and fills Ron’s cup with water again.

“Yeah, it looks great, well done, congrats. Can we get back to the matter at hand, why are we here?” Harry interrupts him, looking searchingly at the both of them. The last few days had been pretty relaxing, well sort of, and then this appeared out of nowhere, all of sudden they were attacked, not just the Burrow, but homes all over the place were attacked as well, and now they weren’t even in St Mungo’s they were somewhere else. Tom Riddle was dead, he was certain about that, but that didn’t mean that someone else was in charge, that someone else had spearheaded a campaign to kill the boy who lived, and preferred the slow drawn out method, of capturing before killing. He had to hand it to them, they were efficient, only took them two weeks, where Tom had failed for years.

“Why, who, what, when, where, how... we know none of it.” George says, giving Harry a small glare before smiling at him. George pushes the glass of water into Ron’s hand and makes him drink it before he refills it and Harry leans over and grabs it, taking a sip.

“But you’ve been awake for hours! What have you been doing?” Ron demands, Harry laughs and takes another sip, resisting the urge to shake Ron’s shoulders.  Apart from attempting to open the door and think of a plan to get out, George had been kept rather busy but a few other tasks in the last few hours.

“Keeping you alive you asshole, do you think it was easy? You’re dressings still needed changing and you stopped breathing at one point.” George replies punching Ron very lightly in the arm, he barely touches him but he still sees a look of pain shadow Ron’s expression as the shot of pain makes Ron bite down on the inside of his lip, trying to keep the grimace off his face. George gives him an apologetic smile and Ron tries to muster a smile in return, but it only makes his face hurt more.

“How long have we been here for?” Ron asks, as he resists the urge to touch his face, he can tell by the look George gives him when he raises his hand a little, that he absolutely should not touch his face, and he will use force to stop him if he must. Ron may not be blind, but he knows that not everything is okay.

“Hours.” George groans as he leans back, lying down on Ron’s bed, Ron shifts his legs out of the way, trying not to release the strangled sound that rises up his throat in protest to moving. George stares up at the ceiling as Harry closes his eyes and falls backwards, lying on his bed, with his legs hanging over the side.

“Thank you for that detailed description.” Ron sighs as he gives George a soft kick but immediately regrets the action when pain shots up his leg, his whole body hurts, aches, and his face is still burning, and he is resisting the urge to touch it. “I feel like I was awake for the entire duration of it with you.” Ron adds with another sigh as he closes his eyes.

Twenty minutes passes, and they are all still sitting in the same places as before, squabbling as they tried to establish a person, a set of circumstances that this occurred in. The most likely and of course the most farfetched situations were brought up, but ultimately it always came back to one question. One question that was at the forefront of their minds, one question that they couldn’t possibly ignore, the question that is on the tip of their tongues but no one wants to say. Over twenty minutes not one of them brought up, no one wanted to bring their attention to it, no one wanted to ask because no one knew the answer.

What about the others?

Last George had heard, everyone was fine, well not everyone, but people were fine, some were still touch and go, others hadn’t been fine, but their family, that they felt guilty for solely concerning themselves with, their family was safe. Fleur and Bill were alive, Charlie and Arthur were good, and Molly was still her same old self, so she was no doubt somewhere yelling at someone over not being able to see her sons. Little Teddy had been fine, the last time George had seen him he was in Fleur’s arm, as he left Hermione and Ginny’s room and went back to Ron and Harry.

“But hours have passed since then, what if St Mungo’s was attacked? It had to have been hadn’t it, otherwise how else would we have disappeared from there? How would we have ended up here if St Mungo’s wasn’t attacked?” Harry asks. They hadn’t made any sort of plan, any sort of advancements, but they had been able to just talk for twenty minutes, not relaxed, not calm, but they had been able to talk everything through, and hope to God that they weren’t being watched.

“Sure it could have been bu-” George starts, somehow he doesn’t think that happened, he doesn’t know why, but he can’t imagine St Mungo’s burnt to the ground, maybe a floor was destroyed, a few rooms, a corridor, but surely the entire place wasn’t now ash and flame, rubble and smoke.

“What about the Ministry? Surely that could have been infiltrated. It’s happened before, why wouldn’t it happen again.” Harry suggests, his mind is full, his brain is practically whirring, he needs to know some answers to the millions of questions on the surface of his brain, but no doubt any new information will simply lead to more questions. Were the others okay, they had to be didn’t they? They couldn’t be dead, they couldn’t lose anyone else, he couldn’t...

“Mum and Dad were at the Ministry!” Ron half yells, almost as if the idea had just occurred to him.

“Look there is no point worrying, whether or not any of this has happened, you two freaking out changes shit. We just have to figure out how to get out of here.”

“Why don’t we apparate?” Ron says suddenly. The idea is so obvious, they theorised ways to get out, reasons for their capture for over twenty minutes, and yet none of them broached the idea of apparating again. Harry and George stare at him for a second, and Ron quickly adds, “You said you didn’t want to leave us here right? Well we are all awake, so we could just leave right?”

“True.” George says, the word his weighted, and he nods slowly at Ron. Harry nods as well, wondering how it had only just occurred to them now, sure Ron wouldn’t be able to walk, and neither would Harry, not really, but they didn’t need to, they could simply apparate and place protective charms, and sit out the night, before trying to find out more. “Where do we want to go?” He asks, looking at Ron before glancing over to Harry.

“Well we can’t go to the Burrow, it may not be safe.” Ron states. They all know it to be true, but they are all void for ideas, and stating the obvious is the best way to go. The Burrow could be burnt to the ground, or painted with the blood of their friends, they couldn’t go there, not yet, not with themselves in this state, not without knowing.

“What about the woods we camped in for the Quidditch World Cup?” Harry suggests. The death eaters probably won’t think to go there, its isolated so no one will be there, probably, and it’s the best idea that Harry has at the moment. Part of him thinks that perhaps a Muggle area is a safer bet, but in this state, none of them can blend in, and he doesn’t want to put anyone else in danger if he can avoid doing so. Ron nods and George sits up, slides off the bed and stands between Ron and Harry’s bed, wand in one hand, as Ron places a hand firmly on George’s arm, and on the other side Harry does the same. All clutching their wands, they close their eyes, their fingers tightening around the wands, as they wait....

“Shit.” Ron groans. Nothing happened, they didn’t move. After all of this, they can’t apparate, there is no way out of this room, they can’t leave, they simply don’t have a way out, and they don’t know what to do, they could put up a protective charm around them, they could attempt to open the door...

“Do y- Can you hear that?” Harry asks, as he strains his ears, his eyes fixed on the doors. Ron gives a small nod, as his lips become a fine line and he chews on the inside of his lip, his body aching as his face drains of colour. They knew this moment was coming, it had to be, but that didn’t mean that any of them was prepared for it, they just remained where they were listening for a few seconds, hoping that their ears were deceiving them, hoping against all hope...

“Someone’s coming.” George says. Ron and Harry let go of George, their faces pale and their expressions determined, determined and afraid. As the footsteps approach, the slapping of shoes against the wooden floor, George counts, he can’t tell how far the steps are apart, there is more than one person coming. The footsteps get louder and closer, and as their fingers curl around their wands, their eyes fixed on the door, their heads screaming, as they wonder whether they will leave this room alive...

Will they have to throw a spell that will save their lives?

Will they even be given the chance to survive?

As the footsteps pause in front of the door, Harry takes a deep breath in wishing he could kiss Ginny one last time, Ron pushes the pain out of his mind wishing he could see Hermione one last time, and George wonders if he won’t have to look in the mirror to see his twin again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now this account has officially caught up to my fanfic.net account, so the updates will be a few weeks apart, I do hope that you enjoy this fic, and if you've made it this far, thanks for reading :)


End file.
